Chris Magnus (Photo: Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved former Fargo Police Chief Chris Magnus as the top border official in a near party-line vote, as President Joe Biden deals with record migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border and criticism from both the right and left over his immigration policies.
The 61-year-old Tucson Police Chief, Magnus, will become commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the 60,000-person agency overseeing border security, trade, and travel. Magnus was approved by a vote of 50-47, with Senator Susan Collins the lone Republican joining Democrats in support.
Magnus was Fargo Police Chief from 1999 to 2006 where he played a key role in implementing the first two-state regional dispatch system in the nation, a forensic children’s interview center, and a refugee liaison program for the area’s new immigrants and refugees. He also worked for police departments in Michigan and California.
When Biden nominated Magnus for the role in April, the White House touted him as a reformer focused on establishing community trust in law enforcement and holding officers accountable.
Magnus drew media attention in 2014 as police chief in Richmond, California, where he was photographed holding a “Black Lives Matter” sign at a protest, later calling it a gesture of goodwill and not a political statement.
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