Border Patrol Union not confident in future CBP commissioner

The National Border Patrol Council, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection union, is expressing little confidence that the replacement for former Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus will be an improvement. President Biden accepted Magnus’ resignation Saturday effective immediately. Deputy Commissioner Troy Miller will be acting commissioner until a permanent replacement is nominated and confirmed by the Senate.

“We have no idea who they’ll replace him with. The core problem remains–Biden, Harris and Mayorkas,” the NPBC said in a Tweet.

As for Magnus, the union stated he deserved to be fired. 

“He had a long history of anti-BP sentiment and he thought BP agents were the bad guys. That’s why they selected him. The entire Biden Admin despises BP agents,” the Twitter post said.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asked Magnus to resign or be fired last week. Magnus was described as “missing in action”, according to the LA Times. He didn’t participate in meetings when needed and recently attended a meeting of Border Patrol chiefs even though he was explicitly told not to attend.

This change in leadership comes as the agency continues to respond to record immigration at the Southern Border. Agents apprehended 2.4 million immigrants in fiscal year 2022. Meanwhile, CBP is working to keep Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz on the job past his retirement date. Magnus stopped paying Ortiz a retention bonus after Ortiz decided not to implement changes Magnus had requested.

There’s also a morale crisis within the Border Patrol’s ranks. Senior agents told Straight Arrow News they are “physically and emotionally exhausted”, “frustrated” and have a sense of “hopelessness.”

On top of everything else, the agency is trying to overcome a recruitment shortage. The agency’s staffing models have shown they are short approximately 1,000 officers. They are offering up to a $20,000 bonus for qualified candidates.