Senate Confirms CBP Commissioner Nominee After 8 Month Hearing Delay
The Senate confirmed Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus as the next commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), appointing a new leader for the nation's largest law enforcement agency. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) voted with the Democrats in the 50-47 vote that split mostly along party lines.
Magnus is the first CBP commissioner confirmed since 2019.
President Biden nominated Magnus in April, picking him to lead an agency with more than 60,000 border agents, customs officers, and other administrative employees. Troy Miller, former director of field operations for the New York Field Office of CBP, has been acting commissioner under the Biden administration.
The confirmation was delayed by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), who refused to schedule the hearing until the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) answered specific questions about the agency's decision to deploy federal law enforcement officers into downtown Portland, Oregon during demonstrations protesting the death of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
After images emerged of Border Patrol agents utilizing whips on horseback to prevent Haitian migrants from entering the country, Magnus' confirmation hearing mainly addressed enforcement practices. Lawmakers initially opposed his nomination, alleging Magnus would not enforce immigration laws sufficiently.
As previously reported in FEDagent, Magnus announced to the committee his intention to depoliticize CBP policy change and “build in resiliency as a key for helping our men and women, our hard-working men and women of the Border Patrol, be as effective as possible in their jobs.” Magnus' nomination was approved by the Senate Finance Committee on November 3, 15-13, with Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) being the only Republican to vote for the nomination to be advanced to the full Senate.
Magnus arrives at CBP after a federal court ordered the Biden Administration to reinstate the Trump Administration's "Remain in Mexico" program, which requires many non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait for their immigration court hearings in Mexico.
The confirmation comes as Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas travels the U.S. southern border with department employees from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The Senate is expected to vote next week on President Biden's nominee for director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Sheriff Ed Gonzalez of Harris County, Texas.