Customs and Border Protection Officer

About the role

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is one of the world’s largest law enforcement organizations and the largest federal law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security, with over 69,000 employees. CBP secures the nation's borders from terrorism, human/drug smuggling, illegal migration, agricultural pests, and enforces legitimate travel and trade. Employees exemplify the core values of Vigilance, Service to Country, and Integrity. As a Customs and Border Protection Officer (CBPO), you will be a Federal Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) responsible for enforcing customs, immigration, and agriculture laws, conducting inspections, determining admissibility, and preventing illegal entry and smuggling. Duty locations span multiple states, including Arizona, California, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Texas, Vermont, and Washington.

Responsibilities

• Enforcing customs, immigration, and agriculture law and regulations
• Enforcing the flow of legitimate trade and travel
• Conducting inspections of individuals and conveyances
• Determining the admissibility of individuals for entry into the United States
• Preventing the illegal entry of individuals and prohibited goods and the smuggling of illegal drugs and other contraband

Requirements

• U.S. Citizenship
• Primary U.S. residency for at least three of the last five years
• Age restriction: must be referred for selection before reaching 40th birthday (law enforcement retirement provisions), with exceptions for current/former federal civilian law enforcement covered by Title 5 U.S.C. 8336(c) or 8412(d), or Veterans' Preference eligible
• Veterans' Preference eligibility may exempt age restriction
• Completion of 103‑day Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) academy in Glynco, GA; possible Spanish training for certain duty locations

Qualifications

Positions are filled at GS‑5, GS‑7, or GS‑9 grade levels, with promotion potential to GS‑11 and GS‑12.

• GS‑5: 3 years general experience (1 year equivalent to GS‑4) OR a bachelor’s degree OR combination of experience and education.
• GS‑7: 1 year specialized experience equivalent to GS‑4 (inspections, observational techniques, applying laws, making determinations) OR a bachelor’s degree with superior academic achievement (GPA ≥3.0, honor society, ≤10% pass/fail) OR one year graduate education OR combination.
• GS‑9: 1 year specialized experience equivalent to GS‑4 (detaining suspects, enforcing import/export laws, intelligence techniques, conducting interviews) OR a master’s/higher degree or two+ years graduate education OR LL.B./J.D. OR combination of specialized experience and graduate education beyond first 18 semester hours.