According to a government source, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanded that the commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection resign or face termination.
Chris Magnus expressed his resolve to stay on the job in an email to senior Customs and Border Protection employees.
“I want to make this clear: I have no plans to resign as CBP Commissioner. I didn’t take this job as a resume builder. I came to Washington, DC— moved my family here— because I care about this agency, its mission, and the goals of this Administration,” the letter stated.
Magnus is reportedly being fired from his work, according to reports from Friday. This comes after a record-breaking year for the quantity of migrants attempting to cross the southern border into the United States.
Requests for response from Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security have gone unanswered.
Early in November, a number of Republican members of the House wrote to President Biden requesting that he dismiss Magnus in light of recent media accounts of his work performance.
Magnus has been working there for about a year.
Nearly 2.4 million migrants were apprehended at the border in the fiscal year that ended in September, up 37% from the previous year, according to statistics from the Department of Homeland Security.
Magnus has under scrutiny for a number of scandals in addition to managing record border data.
He reached a settlement with a sexual harassment and retaliation action brought by a former Richmond, California, police officer in 2017 when he was serving as the department’s police chief in October 2021.
Magnus reportedly dozed out at meetings in October, according to reports.
“I care a great deal about CBP and the people who work here. In the 10 months I’ve been CBP’s Commissioner, I’ve gotten up to speed on the agency’s many complex areas of responsibility. While CBP is an operational — not a policy-making — agency, I’ve been closely involved in the major DHS immigration, border security, trade, and other policy discussions throughout my time as Commissioner. I frequently share insights from CBP’s frontline law enforcement and civilian personnel in those discussions and will continue to do so,” Magnus insisted.
