Above:Commissioner Eugene
Green,
NFPAMA
Chair
Wilma
Heaton,
CBP Area
Port
Director
Vernon
Foret
and New
Orleans
lakefront
Airport
Committee
members
cut the
ribbon
at the
new
office
located
at the
Lakefront
Airport
(Photo
credit:
Cliff
Robinson).
Above: Vernon Foret, Area Port
Director,
U.S.
Custom
and
Border
Protection
- New
Orleans
Above:NFPAMA Chair Wilma Heaton, Commissioner Eugene Green, CBP Area Port Director Vernon Foret and New Orleans lakefront Airport Committee members cut the ribbon at the new office located at the Lakefront Airport
Above: Ben Morris - Lakefront Airport Director
Above: Ken Schwingshakl - NFPAMA Exec. Director
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
The CBP and the Non-Flood Protection Asset Management Authority (NFPAMA) announced the CBP office's return to newly renovated space in the airport's historic main terminal. Wilma Heaton, Chair of the NFPAMA Airport Committee, stated that, "the new 'Customs' office will increase traffic at the Lakefront airport, as it presents an alternative to air travel that was previously limited to use of only the Louis Armstrong Airport Customs office." Among those whom Heaton thanked for their support of this major project were Councilman James Gray and the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority, which provided funding support that expedited the return of Customs and Border Protection to the airport site.
The U. S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified agency within the Department of Homeland Security charges with the maintenance, control, and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry.
The destruction of New Orleans Lakefront Airport following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 resulted in operations being suspended by many organizations, CBP included. On June 5, CBP officers began clearing international passengers arriving on private and charter aircraft from foreign locations at the newly renovated state-of-the-art customs facility.
"We are excited to begin processing private aircraft at the Lakefront Airport once again which brings with it a positive economic impact for the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area," said Vernon Foret, CBP Area Port Director for the Area Port of New Orleans.
