U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus was given an ultimatum last week by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas: Resign from your position, or be handed your walking papers.
The choice came in the wake of a bombshell report last month from Politico that cited five unnamed sources claiming Magnus had apparently lost interest in protecting the southern U.S. border. The sources reportedly described the CBP head as “disengaged” from his duties, claiming he tended to doze off during important meetings and belittle other government agencies.
NEW: CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus has officially resigned, and the White House says the resignation has been accepted by President Biden. @FoxNews
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) November 13, 2022
Magnus told the Los Angeles Times on Friday that he would not step down from his duties before doing so just a day later.
“I expressed to him that I felt there was no justification for me to resign when I still cared deeply about the work I was doing and felt that that work was focused on the things I was hired to do in the first place,” Magnus told the outlet before submitting his resignation.
However, when Magnus resigned on Saturday and submitted his letter of resignation to the Biden administration, both sides played nice for the camera.
“Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Senate confirmed Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection over the past year. It has been a privilege and honor to be part of your administration,” his resignation letter read.
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The White House responded in a statement, thanking him for his service as a police chief and the CBP commish.
“The President has accepted the resignation of Christopher Magnus, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 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. The President thanks Mr. Magnus for his service at CBP and wishes him well,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement, Fox News reported.
The L.A. Times cited unnamed Biden administration officials who didn’t have much in the way of nice things to say about Magnus and his leadership style. Some sources reportedly claimed that Magnus was simply out of his depth because he wasn’t on the job long enough to learn how the agency worked.
Another official said Magnus skipped important meetings on various immigration topics, all at a time when the illegal immigration crisis at the southern border was spiraling out of control — as it continues to do so currently.
Ron Vitiello, a former Border Patrol chief, told the L.A. Times that the resignation of the CBP commissioner is an unneeded distraction for an agency struggling to conduct its duties properly.
“I’m concerned about the workforce. This is another thing they have on their plate that is unnecessary,” Vitiello said. “This is a distraction that takes away from the hard work they are doing and the crisis they are in.”
Since Magnus was only in his position since last December, he can’t shoulder all the blame for the Biden administration’s poor policy decisions regarding the southern border. Still, it very much appears that Magnus, described by The Times as a “progressive law enforcement leader,” wasn’t all that interested in securing the border.
On Magnus’ watch, the New York Post reported over two million encounters with illegal migrants at the southern U.S. border at the end of the fiscal year, which ended in September. That marked a 37 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.
President Joe Biden’s disastrous border policies, combined with the hiring of people such as Magnus who seemingly don’t care about the issue enough to want to fix it, has led to nothing less than total disaster — a disaster Americans will continue to pay for and suffer from for years to come.
Magnus might be out of the spotlight for now, but don’t be surprised to see him back in the headlines next year if Republicans manage to squeak out a House majority, as Republican leadership has already vowed to launch multiple investigations into the Biden administration, including its handling of the border, CNN reported.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
