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CBP Preclearance Director Formally Assumes Command

Release Date
Fri, 11/16/2018

TORONTO—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) held a change of command ceremony today at Toronto Pearson International Airport to officially introduce Clint A. Lamm as the Director of Field Operations, Preclearance, within the Office of Field Operations.

CBP Preclearance Director Clint Lamm
Preclearance Director Clint Lamm

In this role, Lamm will oversee more than 600 law enforcement officers and agriculture specialists stationed at 15 air Preclearance locations in six countries: Aruba; Freeport and Nassau, the Bahamas; Bermuda; Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Winnipeg, Canada; Dublin and Shannon, Ireland; and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Preclearance is the process by which CBP officers stationed abroad inspect and make admissibility decisions about passengers and their accompanying goods or baggage heading to the United States before they leave a foreign port. Preclearance operations began in 1952 at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

During fiscal year 2017, CBP personnel stationed abroad precleared 19.1 million travelers, representing 15.32 percent of all commercial air travelers to the United States. Of those travelers processed at preclearance locations, CBP was able to prevent 7,995 inadmissible travelers from boarding U.S.-bound flights.

CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner Todd Owen presided over the ceremony.

Owen presented Lamm with the Preclearance guidon. The change of command ceremony is rooted in military history, dating back to at least the 18th century, and the presentation of the guidon symbolically represents the establishment of a new command authority.

Lamm began his Federal career in 1998 as an Immigration Inspector in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Since then, he has served in numerous leadership positions, including Deputy Director, Preclearance Field Office; as Director, Alternative Funding Programs; and as Executive Advisor to the Assistant Commissioner and Acting Executive Director, Labor and Employee Relations, in the CBP Office of Human Resources Management.

Most recently, from 2016 to 2018, Lamm served as the Area Port Director, Boston, where he oversaw air, cargo, and sea operations; and directed a workforce of over 280 employees. During his tenure in this position, Lamm addressed a 33 percent workload increase at Boston Logan International Airport while reducing wait times, a 149 percent growth at T.F. Green Airport in Providence, and 51 percent growth at Bradley International Airport in Hartford.Lamm is a 2013 graduate of the CBP Leadership Institute, and a 2017 graduate of the DHS Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program. Lamm holds a Master of Arts in Diplomacy from Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont; and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Kaplan University in Davenport, Iowa.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with securing the borders of the United States while enforcing hundreds of laws and facilitating lawful trade and travel.

Last Modified: Feb 03, 2021