Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus is in Washington DC for Tuesday’s U.S. Senate confirmation hearing on his nomination to serve as commissioner for the 60,000+ employees of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), but there is growing opposition to having Magnus at the helm of the country’s largest federal law enforcement agency.
President Joe Biden’s nomination of Magnus was announced back in April, but throughout the growing border crisis there was no showing of urgency from the White House to get Senate confirmation. It was not until late September that the Oct. 19 hearing date was finally set.
As Magnus prepared Monday for the hearing, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels met at the border to address the lack of federal responsiveness to the worsening public safety, public health, and economic condition along Arizona’s border with Mexico.
Brnovich told Arizona Daily Independent after the meeting he had wanted to give Magnus the benefit of the doubt, but cannot support his nomination for CBP commissioner.
The reason? The Biden Administration’s “complete lack of attention” to the border crisis, Brnovich explained.
“The Senate should stop the nomination,” he said, calling on Sen. Mark Kelly to stand up for Arizonans and put an end to hearing.
The attorney general’s sentiments are shared by majority of Arizona’s 15 elected sheriffs.
Arizona Daily Independent has obtained a copy of the Oct. 12 letter the Arizona Sheriffs’ Association sent to Kelly and Senator Kyrsten Sinema. The letter is signed by Dannels as president of the ASA, which represents 14 of the state’s 15 sheriffs (Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos removed himself from the organization several months ago).
“As a border state, Arizona’s Sheriffs understand firsthand the crisis that currently exists on the border,” the letter states. “The dire circumstances are at a pinnacle both for the communities we are sworn to protect and for our officers. Unfortunately, at this time we cannot support the nomination of Chief Christopher Magnus to lead U.S. Customs and Border Protection.”
Among the issues cited by the ASA is Magnus’ lack of federal law enforcement experience (he would be in charge of 45,000 sworn officers and agents), as well as the chief’s support of Tucson as a sanctuary city and his decisions to bypass working with immigration authorities.
“This caused a rift with the Border Patrol union – many of the same men and women who will potentially be under his command should he be confirmed,” the ASA’s letter states. The U.S. Border Patrol is a division of CBP.
Dannels said the Arizona sheriffs’ letter was sent after the National Sheriffs’ Association wrote to Biden and all 100 senators earlier this month about Magnus’ lack of qualifications, lack of merit, and lack of strong relationships with other law enforcement stakeholders.
The public has two weeks to submit a statement about Magnus’ nomination. The statement should be submitted as a Word document, single-spaced, and not exceeding 10 pages. The first page of the statement must include the title and date of the hearing, as well as the writer’s full name and address. The email address is StatementsForTheRecord@finance.senate.gov
Magnus’ nomination hearing before the Senate Finance Committee will be covered live on C-Span starting at 9:30am ET. https://www.c-span.org/video/?515346-1/confirmation-hearing-customs-border-protection-commissioner
Letter – ASA Concerns with Magnus Nomination Kelly