Tuscon P.D. Chief Chris Magnus approved by Senate as top border official

The U.S. Senate approved Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus as the top border official on Tuesday, as the Biden administration faces record numbers of migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border and increased criticism over failed immigration policies.

Sen. Susan Collins was the only Republican to side with Democrats in the 50-47 vote to approve the nomination.

Magnus is poised to become commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the 60,000-person agency which oversees border security, trade and travel right as arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border have reached a record high. In the 2021 fiscal year alone, arrests at the southern border reached a record 1.7 million.  

Immigration continues to be a key issue for voters in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections, but the Biden administration has been unable to successfully address the issues – namely poverty, violence and food insecurity – that cause migrants to leave Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Stability in these countries – also known as the “Northern Triangle” – is said to be a top priority for the Biden administration, which has repeatedly discussed the need to address the “root causes of migration” and ultimately committed $4 billion to that end.

Republican lawmakers, however, blame the administration for the border crisis, noting that Biden reversed many of the immigration policies set in place by former President Donald Trump.

When Magnus was nominated for the top border job in April, the White House touted him as a proven reformer known for establishing community trust in law enforcement and holding officers accountable.

He came under fire in 2014, however, when he was photographed holding a “Black Lives Matter” sign at a protest while serving as police chief in Richmond, Calif.  

He drew further ire from conservatives in 2017 when he published an op-ed in the New York Times criticizing Trump’s move to withhold federal funds from “sanctuary cities” that limit support and cooperation with immigration enforcement.

Magnus will be CBP’s first Senate-confirmed commissioner since 2018.