Biden picks Magnus to lead agency
Former Richmond police chief nominated for Customs and Border Protection
President Joe Biden has tapped former Richmond police Chief Chris Magnus, a progressive leader and an outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, to head the largest federal law enforcement agency in the country.
Magnus, who has been chief of the Tucson Police Department in Arizona since leaving Richmond in 2015, is Biden’s nominee to be commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, The New York Times
first reported.
If confirmed by Congress, Magnus would take the high-profile job at a time when the agency is roiled in controversy as waves of unaccompanied teenagers and children have been crossing into the United States from Mexico in record numbers.
He has had a complicated relationship with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In 2018, union officials representing Border Patrol agents posted on Facebook that Magnus is “an ultra-liberal social engineer who was given a badge and a gun by the City of Tucson” and accused him of “preaching anarchy and encouraging police officers to commit dereliction of duty.”
Magnus had criticized the Trump administration’s immigration policies and approach. In a 2017 oped for The New York Times, he urged the Department of Justice to focus on policing reforms supported by police chiefs instead of “the changes it wants to make — to force local police officers to cooperate much more closely with federal immigration authorities.” Such cooperation, he added, “will compromise public safety by reducing community confidence in law enforcement.”
Magnus had a reputation for being a “strong community partner” while in Richmond, said Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who represents Richmond and other parts of the western county.
“Based on his record, he will bring a humane approach to border security,” Gioia said. “That’s who he is as a person and professionally.”
He added, “This is a high visibility, controversial job — it’s going to take someone who is strong in law enforcement but also humane and understands the complexities of these issues.”
Magnus gained national prominence in 2014 while chief of the Richmond Police Department after photos of him holding a Black Lives Matter sign at a Richmond protest against police violence went viral.
He had seemed like an unusual hire for Richmond, at first.
White and openly gay, Magnus previously was the chief of police in Fargo, North Dakota, when he was chosen in 2006 to lead the police force in Richmond — a majority Latino and Black city.
He bought a home in Richmond and got to work making changes in the department, including assigning police officers to specific beats long term, instead of rotating them annually, in order to promote better relationships with residents and with community groups.
Richmond’s homicide rate fell from 40 in 2006, when Magnus came to Richmond, to 12 in 2014.
His tenure there was not without controversy among police officers. A lawsuit by seven high-ranking Black officers alleged that Magnus and his deputy chief discriminated against them, but after a trial in 2012, a Contra Costa County jury exonerated both of them.
Local leaders and community groups have often praised Magnus’ efforts in changing the culture of the previously fraught Richmond Police Department to one promoting transparency and community relationships.
He encouraged sharing data with residents to inform them about about police activities and implemented then-sophisticated audio-detection systems so officers could respond to gunfire even before people could call 911.
After taking the police chief job in Tucson, he spoke out publicly against the Trump administration’s approach to immigration.
But he has faced some criticism in Tucson, too. Despite being a critic of antiimmigration policies and stating his support for residents no matter their immigration status, he joined other city leaders in Tucson in opposing a ballot initiative that would have limited the circumstances under which police could ask people about their immigration status.
The initiative, which was rejected by voters, would have threatened federal resources to the city, Magnus argued in an opinion article he wrote for the Arizona Daily Star, noting that “many of the purported protections, such as limiting police questioning to only those specific matters related to traffic stops or criminal investigations, are already required by department policy.”
Last year, Magnus offered to resign following the death of a man in police custody after videos were circulated showing police restraining a man on the ground for 12 minutes as he asked for water.
City officials, however, rallied around Magnus and turned down his resignation offer. Mayor Regina Romero said Magnus had “brought forward-thinking changes to (Tucson police) policies, practices and trainings, and has built strong relationships with our community.”
If confirmed as the Customs and Border Protection commissioner, Magnus will oversee a law enforcement agency with 61,500 employees.
He and other Biden-appointed officials would work under Alejandro Mayorkas, the first immigrant to serve as the secretary of Homeland Security.