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Assistant Director of Trade, Houston Field Office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Deputy Director, Field Operations, Laredo Field Office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
DHS Attaché, Canada Ottawa, Department of Homeland Security
Director, Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT), U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Prior to this role, Mr. Skinner served in the Laredo Field Office as the CBP Deputy Director of Field Operations and then CBP Assistant Director of Trade. In these roles, he provided leadership for subordinate staff across Border Security, Mission Support and Trade portfolios at eight land border ports of entries. He established the Non-Intrusive Inspection Training and Innovation Center and re-engineered rail processing procedures at two of the largest gateways on the U.S./Mexico border through collaboration with the rail industry and Mexican Customs.
Mr. Skinner also served as the DHS Attaché in Ottawa, Canada. He represented DHS in executive interactions with the Canadian government on wide ranging and complex homeland security matters, involving aviation law enforcement collaboration, global supply chain security, and critical infrastructure protection. He had a primary role in negotiating and implementing initiatives within the United States-Canada Beyond the Border (BTB) Perimeter Security Vision, resulting in the completion of several transformative initiatives, including Immigration Information Sharing Agreement, Land/Rail/Marine/Air Preclearance Agreement, Entry/Exit controls, harmonizing customs data elements, and aligning trusted traveler and trader programs.
Prior to his time in Canada, Mr. Skinner was the Director of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) Program for CBP. In this capacity, Mr. Skinner signed five supply chain security mutual recognition arrangements (MRA) with foreign Customs Administrations and laid the foundation for several future arrangements. He improved CBP’s external stakeholder communication through comprehensive training and information sessions. Additionally, he managed the design, development, and dissemination of several new and innovative cargo security-related training products and publications used as aids throughout the world. Mr. Skinner also executed a survey of member companies to gauge their satisfaction with the Program’s activities.
