Southern Border Conference

Michael C. Garza serves as the Field Director for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) office in Laredo. Appointed in April 2025 as the office’s first permanent director, Mr. Garza oversees operations for the facility, which was established in November 2024 to enhance trade security and service to trade partners along the Southwest border.

With 24 years of experience at CBP, Mr. Garza has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to national security and trade enforcement. His career is marked by significant contributions to operational efficiency and the management of complex trade environments. Throughout his tenure, he has been instrumental in overseeing trade operations at critical locations, including the World Trade Bridge, Colombia Solidarity Bridge, Rail Bridge, Export Lot, Foreign Trade Zone/Bonded Warehouse Operations, Free and Secure Trade (FAST) Enrollment Center, and Laredo International Airport.

Mr. Garza’s leadership experience spans 14 years, during which he has held pivotal roles, including Supervisory CBP Officer and Chief. He began his career in 2002 as an Immigration Inspector with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). In his current capacity, Mr. Garza is focused on strengthening partnerships with the trade community and stakeholders to ensure the integrity of the supply chain.

Mr. Garza graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Anthropology from Texas State University.

Supervisor Cindy McCorkle serves as the Supervisor Supply Chain Security Specialist for the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) in the Laredo Office. In this capacity, she leads the charge to further establish and expand the office’s footprint in the region. A key component of her current mandate involves working in coordination with the Department of State to expand CTPAT’s presence in travel-deferred areas, ensuring that rigorous security standards are maintained even in challenging environments.

Supervisor McCorkle began her federal career in 2009 as a Customs and Border Protection Officer (CBPO) at the Laredo Port of Entry. During her tenure as a Supervisory CBPO, she operated on the front lines of one of the nation’s busiest land borders, where her operational portfolio encompassed both complex enforcement and trade facilitation. She played a pivotal role in collaborating with Mexican government officials with the Unified Cargo Processing (UCP) initiative between CBP and the Agencia Nacional de Aduanas de México (ANAM), significantly enhancing cross-border efficiency and security. Furthermore, she has conducted extensive outreach with key stakeholders, providing critical guidance on the complexities of supply chain security and the regulatory nuances of cabotage.

With over 12 years of supervisory experience, she has served in various capacities, fostering strong relationships with Mexican government officials and stakeholders to address cross-border security matters.

Supervisor McCorkle was presented with the CBP Ambassador Award by the Laredo Field Office, Director of Field Operations. She holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University.

Ruben Hinojosa III has nearly 20 years of experience with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the Port of Entry (POE) in Laredo. Throughout his career, Mr. Hinojosa has focused on trade enforcement, security, and cargo operations.

Mr. Hinojosa has held several key operational roles, including serving as a senior administrator at the Colombia Solidarity Bridge and as a Dock Coordinator at the World Trade Bridge, where he spent nearly 15 years overseeing daily cargo operations. As a member of the Anti-Terrorism Contraband Enforcement Team (ATCET) for cargo, he conducted security operations to verify the integrity of commodities entering the United States through physical inspections at the Import Dock and the use of non-intrusive inspection equipment.

Additionally, Mr. Hinojosa served as a Field Training Officer (FTO) for three years within the Laredo Training Department, assisting in the instruction and development of personnel prior to joining the CTPAT office in 2025. Throughout his career, Mr. Hinojosa has remained focused on upholding security standards and protecting the integrity of the supply chain.

Marcelo Castano Santos holds a law degree from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León and possesses over 20 years of experience in supply chain security.

His professional background includes serving on the legal team for the Legal Counsel to the Governor of the State of Nuevo León.

For 10 years, he served as National Director of the Legal and Security departments for the international transport company SWIFT Transportation (Mexico Division), managing an international operational volume of 120,000 shipments per year.

For the past 15 years, he has served as CEO and founding partner of KYMAX PROFESSIONAL CONSULTING, a firm specializing in CTPAT and AEO (OEA) certifications. With operations across Mexico, the United States, and Canada, he has certified over 500 companies throughout his career as a supply chain security consultant.

He has participated in various international forums organized by government entities at both national and international levels. Notable examples include:

International Level: Seminars organized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from 2009 to 2026, marking 17 consecutive years of training provided by this U.S. authority.

National Level: CTPAT and AEO (OEA) supply chain security seminars held in collaboration with various Mexican automotive clusters from 2019 to 2026.

Felipe “Flip” Romero III serves as director of communications and marketing for the City of Laredo, where he oversees strategic communications and marketing initiatives supporting municipal operations, economic development and Port Laredo, the nation’s leading inland port.

His work focuses on strengthening Laredo’s position as a premier North American trade gateway through strategic partnerships, international business engagement and initiatives that connect the region’s manufacturing, logistics and distribution capabilities.

Through initiatives including Hot City, Cold Chain and México lo fabrica, Laredo lo distribuye, Romero promotes a collaborative approach to economic development that brings together public agencies, private industry, educational institutions and international partners to strengthen the Port Laredo trade ecosystem.

His leadership emphasizes the intersection of strategic communications, economic opportunity and regional competitiveness.

Anne is Chief Data Officer at BITE, and has a background in data, analytics and use of AI to analyze cross border trade. She led investigative work at NU Borders, a defense tech data science and analytics company, prior to co-founding BITE, where she supported Departments of State, Homeland Security and Justice, leveraging international trade data, AI and analytical tools to support critical customs enforcement and national security mission operations. The work Anne and her team performed led to the listing of more than 20 entities on the OFAC SDN list, as well as the disruption of multiple TCO networks. At BITE, Anne manages the ingest, enrichment and processing of hundreds of data sets every day, as well as the rules tha govern the development of AI tools that sit on top of a large trade compliance data ecosystem.

JAMES AMYX is a Member with Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., resident in the Houston office. Mr. Amyx provides legal guidance to clients on a number of import-related matters, including tariff classification, valuation, country of origin and origin marking, requests for rulings and internal advice, and trade remedies. He also assists with compliance and enforcement issues, including developing and implementing import compliance procedures, submitting prior disclosures, and responding to CF-28s, CF-29s, and penalty and pre-penalty notices.

MATTHEW CUMMINS is a Member with Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., resident in the Houston office. Mr. Cummins has extensive experience in pursuing administrative remedies for clients’ import-related issues with U.S. Customs and Border Protection at both the local port and headquarters levels, including with respect to tariff classification, country of origin, valuation, and trade preference program eligibility. He has represented clients before U.S. regulatory bodies, including defending against trade remedy evasion allegations; preparing and submitting prior disclosures, ruling requests, administrative protests, and penalty petitions; and seeking relief from antidumping, Section 301, and Section 232 duties.

ClearDock is a modern ABI filing and customs operations platform built for customs brokers and importers. From entry preparation and filing to automated audits, compliance checks, and post-entry management, ClearDock brings everything into one streamlined system. File faster, reduce manual work, catch errors early, and handle more entries with less effort.

David Corn is Executive Vice President of Comstock & Holt, Inc. starting his drawback career in 2011. David is recognized for his deep technical and theoretical knowledge of drawback, frequently speaking on drawback in venues across the country each year. He recently concluded his term as co-chair of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee in January 2026, serving 4 years on COAC with 20 members of the trade community.

Mr. Corn served as co-lead for the trade in the Trade Support Network’s Drawback Working group, leading efforts to build and transform the duty drawback program through changes to policy, business rules, regulations, and statute where possible. David serves as co-chair for AAEI’s Drawback and Duty Deferral Committee, as the vice chair for the NCBFAA’s Drawback Subcommittee, and as co-chair of the Legislative Committee for the NCBFAA. David actively discusses drawback with congressional representatives from NJ and NY, and the U.S. Trade Representative’s office.

David has a Bachelor of Science degree from The Ohio State University in Consumer Affairs and is both a Licensed Customs Broker and Certified Customs Specialist.

James Grogan is the co-leader of Kroll’s Trade & Customs practice with extensive experience in Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs), duty and tariff mitigation, U.S. customs compliance, and global trade function assessments. He advises organizations ranging from small businesses to multinational corporations and local government entities, providing strategic and regulatory guidance across all phases of FTZ planning, implementation, operations, and compliance.

James also helps companies evaluate participation in CBP partnership programs, including CTPAT and CTPAT Trade Compliance, and assess the effectiveness of their global trade organizations, processes, and technology. His work helps clients identify compliance risks, uncover savings opportunities, strengthen escalation procedures, and align their trade functions with leading practices.

James has served on the National Association of Foreign Trade Zones Board of Directors for 10 years and co-founded the Texas Association of Foreign Trade Zones. He is a Licensed Customs Broker, an Accredited Zone Specialist, and a Certified Zone Specialist, and holds a BA in Economics and Spanish from Saint Louis University.

Mr. Bradford Slutsky, is currently serving as the Acting Executive Director of the Trade Transformation Office, Office of Trade, since June 2026 focused on modernizing trade processes through the implementation of advanced technology and data-driven solutions while ensuring compliance with federal regulations. Prior to this position he was most recently the Director of Cargo Security and Controls Division (CSCD) within Cargo and Conveyance Security (CCS) at Office of Field Operations (OFO) Headquarters, Washington D.C. Mr. Slutsky moved to the Washington D.C. area in 2015, where he served in multiple CBP management positions including the CBP Watch as Director and the CBP National Targeting Center Cargo Division as a Chief Watch Commander. Prior to arriving in the D.C. area, Mr. Slutsky held various management positions with CBP in the Port of New York/Newark where he also stood up an Outreach program to enhance stakeholder engagement and collaboration.

Mr. Slutsky holds a Master of Arts degree in Human Resources Training and Development (Police Graduate Studies) from Seton Hall University, New Jersey, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice with a Business minor from Stockton University, New Jersey.

Ms. Priya Livingstone is a Division Director and the Modernization Lead for the Cargo Systems Program Directorate (CSPD) within U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Information and Technology (OIT). She provides leadership for mission-critical cargo and trade systems, including the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), Advanced Trade Analytics Platform (ATAP), and Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT). Her work focuses on accelerating the delivery of critical capabilities through improved software development and testing. CSPD’s modernization portfolio includes secure cloud migration, messaging and Application Programming Interface (API) improvements, data quality and governance, and practical applications of automation and super intelligence. She works closely with business and technical partners to translate evolving mission requirements into capabilities that benefit CBP and the trade community.

Ms. Livingstone brings experience leading large federal technology programs, managing acquisitions and financial resources, and building accountable teams. She holds a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and certifications as a Project Management Professional and Certified Information Security Manager.