Obama Taps Former Federal Prosecutor to Be 'Border Czar'

President Obama has chosen former U.S. attorney Alan Bersin to serve as border czar.

The new Homeland Security post will be responsible for issues related to drug-cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano named Alan Bersin to the position on Wednesday during a visit to the Southwest border.

Napolitano, who is making her second border trip in two weeks, discussed the agency's efforts to curb the flow of illegal immigrants, guns and drugs along the border. Last year customs officials apprehended 792,321 people who tried to get into the U.S. through the Southwest border, and immigration officials removed more than 369,000, according to Homeland Security Department statistics.

The Obama administration has promised to crack down on border violence and work with Mexican authorities against drug cartels. Hundreds of federal agents, along with high-tech surveillance gear and drug-sniffing dogs, are being deployed to the Southwest.

In his new capacity, Bersin will work with international officials and their counterparts in the U.S. and border states.

From 1993 to 1998, Bersin was the federal prosecutor who led the government's crackdown on illegal immigrants at the California-Mexico border. Bersin and Napolitano were both U.S. attorneys during the Clinton administration.

During his final three years, Bersin doubled as the U.S. attorney general's Southwest border representative, or "border czar."

Under Bersin's watch, the U.S. government rolled out Operation Gatekeeper, a massive increase in border enforcement in the San Diego area that pushed migrants to cross illegally from Mexico in the remote mountains and deserts of Arizona.

The Justice Department did not know if or when this border czar position was eliminated. Justice spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said top Justice officials still perform these roles, and the deputy attorney general chairs a Southwest border working group in the department.

Most recently, Bersin was chairman of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. He also served under California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as the secretary of education.

Earlier, Bersin was the superintendent of San Diego public schools. At the time, Hispanic groups decried the appointment and said Operation Gatekeeper caused a steep increase in deaths by forcing immigrants to attempt treacherous mountain and desert crossings into the United States.

Obama and Napolitano travel to Mexico this week to meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.