WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden will nominate Chris Magnus, the chief of police in the city of Tucson, Arizona, to lead the Customs and Border Protection, the country's border enforcement agency that is currently dealing with a migrant influx. On Monday, the White House announced the nomination of Magnus, a critic of former President Donald Trump's immigration policies.
His nomination is one of several top posts of the Department of Homeland Security, according to the White House's announcement. "I am, of course, very honoured to be nominated by the President to lead Customs and Border Protection. I look forward to speaking with senators and hearing their thoughts and concerns," the Phoenix-based AZ Central newspaper quoted Magnus as saying in a statement issued on Monday through the Tucson Police Department.
Magnus has served as the police chief in Tucson since 2016, and has a career in law enforcement that spans over three decades. "The confirmation process is never a certainty. As the Senate moves forward with its deliberations, I remain committed to serving as your Chief of Police to the best of my ability," he was quoted as saying in the statement. His appointment must get US Senate confirmation, Xinhua news agency reported.
If confirmed by the Senate, he would step into a politically divisive challenge facing the Biden administration, how to handle a record number of border crossings that are projected to increase in the coming months, the report said.
The US is expected to encounter about 2 million migrants at the southern border by the end of the 2021 fiscal year, a record high since 2010.
Up to 1.1 million single adults are expected through September, along with around 828,000 families and more than 200,000 unaccompanied children, according to internal government estimates reviewed and published by CNN last week.
Customs and Border Protection officials project that some 159,000 to 184,000 unaccompanied migrant children could arrive at the southwest border in fiscal year 2021, according to a Reuters report. (IANS)