U.S. Customs and Border Protection Supervisor Jose Venegas is a 35-year-old first generation Mexican-American and a top manager for the Chicago Office of Field Operations, with over 32 CBP Midwest offices within his jurisdiction. He got his start as one of many diverse Chicago youth who became part of a CBP program as a teen and successfully followed the program’s path to becoming a federal law enforcement officer. This fall, CBP is looking for more youth just like Jose Venegas.

“How many times do you say to yourself, ‘that’s what I want’ but don’t know exactly how to get it,” Venegas said. “The whole Chicago U.S. Customs Law Enforcement Exploring program was very hands-on. We were able to personally interact with Customs inspectors, special agents and officers from the FBI, Secret Service, state troopers and local police.” Venegas graduated with high honors from DePaul University with a major in education and Latin-American studies. He went on to become a U.S. Customs Inspector and then head advisor of the Chicago Law Enforcement Explorers Post in June 2002. Many explorers, who graduated from the program, have also become federal law enforcement officers in a variety of agencies.

This year’s Chicago CBP Law Enforcement Explorer open house is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 6, at 610 South Canal St., on the 6th floor. Before graduating, a CBP explorer must earn 240 hours of community service; meet challenging physical and academic requirements along with additional rigorous criteria.