CHICAGO– U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Chicago have taken the initiative to alleviate the backlog of Global Entry applications from the pandemic and are traveling to different sites allowing those passengers who are conditionally approved to complete their interview on the spot.
Chicago Global Entry Mobile unit first started doing these community outreach events in 2016. They started these events based on feedback from travelers who would go to O’Hare to complete their Global Entry interview. They mentioned how great it would be if CBP could do these events at their company for other employees. Initially CBP did these events with local corporations and universities, but word spread quickly, and the events grew in 2017. CBP conducted 15 events totaling 1,722 interviews, along with one travel show. Two of those events were conducted in different states, Iowa, and Indiana, and another four were in lower Illinois to include the University of Illinois.
“The officers assigned to the Global Entry Mobile team are thinking out of the box helping travelers complete their interviews, especially as many are planning upcoming trips,” said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Director of Field Operations, Chicago Field Office. “Being able to visit smaller locations that don’t have a Global Entry office, saves our customers time and money. They can complete their last step so they can start enjoying the benefits of Global Entry.”
In 2018 and 2019 CBP conducted 61 mobile events in Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, and South Dakota completing an astounding 7,532 interviews for conditionally approved Global Entry members. Things slowed down in 2020, 2021, and 2022 due to COVID, but CBP still conducted three events and over 220 interviews. In 2023, with many passengers wanting to travel, the mobile unit again deployed conducting 18 events and a whopping 5,976 interviews, their largest number of interviews in one year.
“Companies ask us to do an event at their location because it boosts the worker’s morale and it shows upper management cares about the employees,” said Matt Weimer, Chicago Mobile Global Entry coordinator. “And the reason we conduct events in other states, is because some states don’t even have enrollment centers or only one for the whole state and appointments are hard to come by.”
This year the mobile team is back on the road and has already done 17 events and completed 2,288 global entry interviews, with plans to do more. To find out where the next event is visit @CBPChicago on X.