Jesús Montes

Jesús Montes (he/him) is a Team Lead for the Transborder Security Center at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Intelligence and Analysis. In this role, he leads a group of intelligence analysts working on multiple transborder security issues, including illicit drugs. He also serves as a part-time President’s Daily Brief briefer at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Prior to these positions, Jesús served as the inaugural Homeland Intelligence Liaison and Briefer to the National Security Council (NSC) at the White House. In this role, he conceptualized and implemented an intelligence support program where he delivered and briefed DHS’s latest intelligence insights to senior NSC officials on issues spanning from cybersecurity and transnational crime to counter-terrorism and irregular migration.

Beyond his day-to-day responsibilities, Jesús is a strong advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) causes having founded and led in multiple capacities his agency’s LGBTQIA+ employee association, PRISM. He has received multiple recognitions for his work, including the 2023 DHS Secretary’s Award for Team Excellence, 2022 Secretary’s Meritorious Service Silver Medal Award, and the National Military Intelligence Foundation’s LTG Patrick M. Hughes Award for Exceptional Homeland Intelligence.

Jesús received his B.A. in International Affairs and a minor in Political Science from the George Washington University in Washington, DC. Jesús is a proud first-generation college student and a first-generation American. He is a native of Chicago, Illinois and Guadalajara, México.