Senate confirms Biden’s nominee to lead Customs and Border Protection

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Biden’s pick to lead Customs and Border Protection in an almost party-line vote.

Chris Magnus, the police chief for Tucson, Ariz., will lead the agency in charge of overseeing border security and travel, Reuters reported. He was approved to the position by a vote of 50-47, with the only Republican vote coming from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). 

Magnus worked for police departments in Michigan, North Dakota and California before joining the police department in Tucson in 2016, according to Reuters. 

The newest top border official, who made headlines during his time in California for holding up a “Black Lives Matter” sign while on the job in the midst of a demonstration, was a vocal critic of former President Trump’s immigration policies, writing in a 2017 op-ed for The New York Times that Trump’s policies were having a “chilling effect” on police-community relations. 

Magnus’s department came under scrutiny in 2020 for excessive tactics after a Latino man died in the custody of Tucson police officers after being held face down for 12 minutes, though his nomination signaled that the Biden administration approved of the way Magnus handled the allegations.