During questioning from U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) Tuesday, President Biden’s pick to run U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) refused to call the situation at the Southern Border a crisis and said he was unfamiliar with the law that makes crossing the border illegally a crime.
In response to Senator Young’s questions, Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus asked, “Does it really matter?”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has reported that between January and August of 2021, more than 1.3 million illegal immigrants crossed our Southern Border. If current trends continue, the U.S. is on track to see two million or more immigrants enter the country illegally by the end of the year.
Later in the questioning, Senator Young asked Chief Magnus if he was familiar with a section of Title 8 that makes it a crime to enter the country at any point other than an official point of entry.
“You’re the nominee to be the Commissioner of CBP and you’ve not familiarized yourself with the operative immigration law. I see that as being a concern,” Senator Young replied.
Chief Magnus also said he was unfamiliar with the recent cancellation of contracts to build a border wall. CBP and other agencies announced the cancellation of these contracts quietly over the recent holiday weekend, despite Congress authorizing and funding the border wall construction on a bipartisan basis since in 2018.
Watch Senator Young’s questioning of the CBP Commissioner nominee here.
