Chris Magnus, the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, officially resigned this weekend in the wake of a number of lead Biden officials threatening to terminate the border chief if he did not choose to step down on his own.
At first, Magnus outright denied the request for his resignation from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas, who claimed that he would push for Old Uncle Joe to fire Magnus for his loss of confidence in leadership at the border. In the wake of an interview with the Los Angeles Times, in which Magnus highlighted a complete lack of justification to give notice, he chose to go ahead and comply with the bid issued by DHS officials. However, he stated that his defiance of an order not to meet with border patrol chiefs in El Paso, along with his outright refusal to extend a “retention” bonus for Raul Ortiz, as the Border Patrol Chief, finally prompted the leave or be fired ultimatum on Tuesday from Mayorkas.
“I resigned because I believe this decision provides me with the best path for advancing my commitment to professional, innovative, and community-engaged policing,” stated Magus to The Los Angeles Times. “I appreciate having had this opportunity to serve and to work with many dedicated colleagues.”
Reportedly, Mayorkas thanked Magnus for his time there via an email to the border patrol workforce, adding that the agency would swap over and begin reporting to Troy Miller, the deputy commissioner.
It was officially confirmed by White House officials that Biden had accepted the letter of resignation from the leader of the country’s biggest enforcement agency, which sports a workforce of over 60,000.
“President Biden appreciates Commissioner Magnus’ nearly forty years of service and the contributions he made to police reform during his tenure as police chief in three U.S. cities,” explained press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a release sent to NPR. “The President thanks Mr. Magnus for his service at CBP and wishes him well.”
Magnus, who was officially confirmed last year as the first openly gay border commissioner, started to deal with increasing pressure from people within the Biden officials after well over a dozen House Republican legislators sounded the call for his firing.
As explained in a report from Politico, legislators openly accused Magnus of bailing on White House events, nodding off during meetings, putting too much focus on the agency’s culture, and not doing quite enough to stop the tide of illegal aliens flooding across the southern border due to the Biden administration border crisis.
