Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this week swore in former Tucson, Arizona police chief Chris Magnus to serve as commissioner to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The swearing-in followed the confirmation in the Senate on December 7 by a 50-47 vote. Magnus is the fifth person to be confirmed as CBP commissioner since the agency was created in 2003.
In that role, he is responsible for a law enforcement agency of 64,727 employees who manage customs, immigration, border security, and agricultural protection. Magnus has a long career in law enforcement that also has included serving with the Lansing, Michigan Police Department and as police chief in Fargo, North Dakota, and Richmond, California, in addition to Tucson.
The White House characterized Magnus as a “progressive police leader who focused on relationship-building between the police and community, implementing evidence-based best practices, promoting reform, and insisting on police accountability.”