U S Customs Stands Guard at Our Gateways, The (1950s)

[Music] the United States Custom Service guards all ports of Entry so that no Goods can be brought into our country illegally one of our busiest ports of Entry is at San oedro near San Diego California as many as 30,000 cars may enter here in a 24-hour period all 17 Lanes of traffic may be full in order to handle this large number of people officials from all four US government departments help with the initial inspection every car is not searched however they are trained to judged people and while they are polite they can be very severe when people break the law the inspectors are from the US Department of Customs immigration public health and agriculture the inspector questions this man and asks to see the trunk of his car he finds nothing wrong here many people crossed the border for only a day these children will visit their grandmother in San Diego some men come to San Diego often on business the officer Knows Mr odess a well he's going to San Diego to buy merchandise for his hardware store suspicious cars are sent to an inspection area for a more thorough investigation this man looks questionable an officer from the US Department of Agriculture checks his papers and questions him the man hands over a bottle of liquor that was not declared the law requires that the bottle be confiscated and he pay a fine the Mexican officials too check all people in Freight entering their country every country has different laws for collecting Duty the Mexican officials work closely with the American officers in their effort to stop smuggling they especially anxious to stop the narcotics traffic and to arrest the dope Smugglers tourists enjoy the picturesque life in Mexico the shops have articles not found in the United States such as some Bros leather goods silver curious handcrafts whether they are going to Mexico for pleasure or business after they cross the line they're foreigners and all their actions are governed by a different set of laws people who leave this country must be sure they can prove their Americans when they return across the line these people have been checked by the US Public Health Service and the immigration authorities and are now ready to go through customs since these Americans have been in Mexico only for the day they have little baggage and the inspection is brief the Mexican people also like to spend a day in the United States to shop in our stores inspector Emery asks Mrs Damon to open her suitcase Mrs Damon seems upset and the officer goes through her bag carefully it might contain smuggled Goods or illegal money ah just as he expected he finds valuable Coral beads with earrings to match Amber from French Indochina and Jade from India tourists to Mexico are permitted a liberal allowance however they must declare their valuables and if they exceed the limit they are subject to a fine Mrs Damon will pay a fine because she did not declare her purchases a train is only passing through a corner of Mexico the officer will seal the cars so they cannot be opened while out of the country when the train returns inspection will not be necessary if the seals have not been broken the United States is bordered by two friendly Nations there are no fortifications on our land borders as there are along the borders of most of the other countries of the world at our international airports planes arrive from many different parts of the world at Los Angeles a Pan-American plane from London as soon as the public health officer clears the plane itself the passengers disembark first they must pass the inspection of the United States Health Service they show their vaccination certificates and the officer glances shrewdly at each traveler to be sure he looks healthy next the immigration inspectors check their passports to be sure they are entering legally then on to customs department for baggage inspection the officers and crew are first to land they have little luggage many rules cover the variety of imports a biology Professor is bringing in some unusual roots to use in research an officer from the US Department of Agriculture is called in he examines them and declares them harmless they are not on his list of forbidden plants and will not endanger American crops Mrs Blair brings in a number of things among them a bottle of rare lure which she failed to declare the The Cure will be confiscated and she'll pay a fine small fines are paid here the work of the Customs inspectors is not finished when the passengers leave they must check their papers and make out their reports which will be sent to Washington DC and placed on file ships and planes bring quantities of merchandise to New York our greatest importing City shops here are famous for articles from abroad at Kennedy airport in New York passengers from the different airline companies are brought to the international arrivals building for their Customs inspection friends and relatives waiting for passengers may watch the Customs procedure from the balcony the officers carry out their inspection as quickly as possible so The Travelers will not be delayed also the counters must be cleared for incoming planes the inspectors are courteous but firm and can be severe when the situation demands children watch the procedure with interest they're impressed with the Quiet efficiency with which the officials carry out their difficult work they are alert every minute to be sure no Contraband Goods enters this country no smuggling 10,000 passengers pass inspection in this Airport each day in this public auction room are the Articles confiscated as well as those not called for The Travelers may have died or forgotten their Parcels or have given the wrong addresses after a period of time this merchandise is sold at auction the sales are advertised and people may come ahead of the public auction to examine the Articles and decide which they want to bid on at Los Angeles Harbor the offices of the US Customs are in the post office and custom house building the custom service takes care of all imported merchandise until it has been fully inspected and the import Duty paid the inspection of freight is generally at the Docks but sometimes the inspectors go to the importer's place of business and make their inspection iction there here they are unloading sewing machines from Japan the inspector examines only a certain percent of the boxes he checks each box with the bill of lading and invoices each year more than $18 billion worth of merchandise comes to this country from foreign ports by their careful work the custom service saves our millions of dollars each year it's hard to believe this crate contains two complete airplanes an example of modern engineered packing notice when the lift pulls out how the crate has already been placed on a movable lift now it can easily be pushed to its Dock location a passenger liner arrives from the Orient friends are on hand to greet The Travelers the public health and immigration officers made their inspection on board while the ship was docking after disembarking the passengers go first to the Customs inspection room the luggage of the 300 passengers leaving the ship is assembled here and then placed Alpha atically according to the individual's last name thus each passenger can locate his own luggage Mrs Tremont is returning from a trip around the world inspector Tomic asks her if she had bought anything of value that she did not declare she firmly denies bringing in anything expensive but the officer is not convinced his trained hands quickly investigate the different pockets of the suitcase people hide things in odd places such as pill boxes belts the heels of shoes and falce bottom suitcases a small box has useful things her Jewel bag contains beads and bracelets nothing of Great Value her cosmetic bag looks harmless but he decides to look further he was right to look thoroughly valuable diamond rings in her Cold Cream jar she has deliberately falsified her declaration in order to avoid paying Duty he carefully cleans each ring now they're indeed very fine Stones now she will pay a fine of $1,000 and her lovely new diamonds will be confiscated she's not a criminal but did not not realize how important it is to make a truthful declaration the inspectors have done a tremendous job clearing the baggage of the 300 passengers of this ship in a short [Music] time and so the fine work of the US Customs Service continues as it has for 175 Years playing an important role in the American economy enforcing the laws of the land our country's trade is safe as long as the Customs inspectors stand guard night and day at our ports of Entry