Port Director John Salazar Celebrates 40 Years of
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Sep 5, 2009, 0 Comments
Courtesy Richard Pauza,
EAGLE PASS, TEXAS – Following in the long-serving footsteps of his father, a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Port Director in El Paso with 50 years of federal service, John Salazar, Port Director, Eagle Pass Port of Entry, on the eve of his retirement recently completed 40 years of federal service. With a combined 33 years of service as a port director in Columbus , N.M. and Eagle Pass , Texas Salazar has earned his place among the ranks of the longest serving port directors in the history of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
In a recent port director conference call, Salazar credited his wife with giving him the strength to keep soldiering on through the long hours and late-night phone calls over the years. “It’s been joyous and it’s been painful, but none of it would have been possible without my wife standing behind me all these years.”
Salazar began his government service in December 1967 with the U.S. Naval Reserve. He received his Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Naval Reserve in February 1970.
Recruited by his father, who assured him the U.S. Customs Service (now U.S. Customs and Border Protection) was “the best” federal agency on the border, Salazar entered on duty as a U.S. Customs Inspector in February 1970. In 1974, he became Port Director at the Columbus , N.M. Port of Entry and at the time was the youngest Port Director ever in the Houston Region. In 1986, Salazar began his tenure as Port Director at Eagle Pass Port of Entry where he had remained ever since.
Salazar carried a combined 33 years of service as a Port Director in Columbus , New Mexico and Eagle Pass , Texas . Salazar officially retired from CBP on Sept. 3, 2009. On his last day, Leticia Moran, Director of Field Operations, Laredo presented Salazar with a watch, clock and a letter from President Barack Obama thanking him for his more than 40 years of service to the nation.
During his professional career with U.S. Customs Service and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Salazar has served on a number of civic and volunteer organizations, including the following: New Mexico Border Commission, Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments, Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico/Columbus, New Mexico Lions Club, Luna County, New Mexico Industrial Park, Columbus, NM Volunteer Fire Department & Rescue Squad, Eagle Pass Chamber of Commerce , Maverick County Development Corporation, Society of St. Vincent de Paul and as a Life Member of Disabled American Veterans.
Salazar is well known for his roast speeches delivered at the retirements of various South Texas CBP employees over the years. He also describes himself as an avid and sometimes successful bicyclist.
Salazar is married and lives in Eagle Pass , Texas .
