The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commissioner, Christopher Magnus, has resigned after reportedly being told by the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas that he had two options to either resign or be fired.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has said in a statement that Magnus’ resignation has been accepted by Joe Biden, who thanked him for his service.
House Republicans had called for Magnus’ resignation earlier this month, following a Politico report that showcased how “unengaged at his job” he was. Biden had reportedly chosen Magnus for his position, because of his opposition to Trump’s administration’s immigration policies. However, that decision had been criticized by those who said that Magnus’ experience was in policing and not in immigration and border enforcement.
According to the Politico report, some administration officials had also spoken about how he was not familiar with CBP operations and his predominant concern was to change the CBP.
On Wednesday, Mayorkas and Magnus had a meeting in which they discussed Magnus’ decision to stop the retention bonus for Border Patrol head Raul Ortiz after the two had had a disagreement about how the CBP should be reformed. During the meeting, Mayorkas encouraged Magnus to hand in his resignation. However, Magnus reportedly told the Washington Post that he had no such intention.
The Biden administration and CBP have been heavily criticized over the historic number of border crossings.
