Biden nominates anti-Trump police chief to head border agency and secures deal with Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala to mobilize more troops to stop the surge
Joe Biden is nominating a Trump critic to lead Customs and Border Protection as the administration secured an agreement with Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala to put troops at their border to help stop the heavy stream of migrants fleeing to the U.S.
'We've secured agreements for them to put more troops on their own border. Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala have all agreed to do this. That not only is going to prevent the traffickers, and the smugglers, and cartels that take advantage of the kids on their way here, but also to protect those children,' Domestic Policy Council special assistant for immigration, Tyler Moran, told MSNBC on Monday of the new deals.
Moran did not mention anything about a potential deal with El Salvador, which makes up the Northern Triangle along with Guatemala and Honduras.
The deal comes after Vice President Kamala Harris was named border czar last month.
Harris has received a slew of criticism for not yet visiting the southern border or any of the North Triangle countries or holding any events related to her new role.
Since then, the White House has backed off on her position. The White House claims Harris' goal as border czar is to address root causes of why migrants are fleeing Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador en masse.
Along with the new agreements, Biden is also looking to fill out his team addressing the border crisis as he plans to nominate chief of police in Tucson, Arizona, Chris Magnus, to lead the Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP), a White House official said Monday.
Biden's administration has struck a deal with Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras for more troops to secure their own borders to stop the massive flow of migrants fleeing those countries to the U.S.
Unaccompanied minors part of a caravan heading to the U.S. in March were stopped at checkpoint in Honduras near the border with Guatemala
Central American families wait in line to be processed by Border Patrol agents after crossing into the U.s> by way of Mexico
Parents stand holding their children in Roma, Texas after arriving in the U.S. from Central America
Magnus is highly critical of Trump's hard line immigration policies. His appointment requires a Senate confirmation.
In a 2017 op/ed in The New York Times, Magnus criticized Trump and his then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions for their stance on immigration.
'The harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric and Mr. Sessions's reckless policies ignore a basic reality known by most good cops and prosecutors,' Magnus wrote at the time. 'If people are afraid of the police, if they fear they may become separated from their families or harshly interrogated based on their immigration status, they won't report crimes or come forward as witnesses.'
Magnus also refused last year to accept homeland security grants issued to local police departments for border enforcement because Trump did not allow he funds to be used for humanitarian aid.
The administration official also revealed that Biden plans to nominate Ur Jaddou to lead the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
In a press release Fox News reported will be sent out Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas wrote: 'I am excited that President Biden has nominated an extraordinary group of individuals for critical leadership positions in the Department of Homeland Security.'
'They are highly-regarded and accomplished professionals with deep experience in their respective fields. Together they will help advance the Department of Homeland Security's mission to ensure the safety and security of the American people.'
The vice president held at least one call with the Guatemalan president since she took on the administration's response to the immigration crisis.
'We're addressing the reasons that people are coming from the region,' Moran continued Monday morning to MSNBC. 'This is really important. If you just focus on our border, you're not addressing why people are actually coming to our border. The President has a blueprint and he's working with the vice president on this.'
Hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the Northern Triangle countries have been migrating through Central American to the U.S.-Mexico border over the last few years.
March brought on the highest number yet of illegal crossers into the U.S.
Aside from Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, U.S. agencies have asked for help from the Red Cross and NASA to address the growing problem.
CBP data shows migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border is vastly higher in 2021 compared to 2020, which saw a decrease. The numbers also show March saw the largest number in recent U.S. history in terms of illegal crossings
Since taking office, Biden also has not yet visited the border or any Central American countries where immigrants are migrating from.
Several lawmakers, on both sides of the aisle, have traveled to the southern border and decried the conditions of holding and processing facilities as 'inhumane', 'horrific' and 'barbaric'.
Republican House Whip Steve Scalise slammed Biden's border policies as 'child abuse' as he shared images from the border over the weekend – including one of a migrant facility that is at 16 times its capacity.
'How could President Biden and Kamala Harris allow this to go on and not even come here and see it for themselves?' the House Minority Whip questioned during a press availability at the border. 'It's a disgrace.'
'We went into a facility — in the middle of a pandemic — that is designed to hold no more than 250 people. Today, there's more than 4,000 people,' Scalise continued as he was joined by a group of 10 other Republican lawmakers.
The southern border has quickly devolved into the biggest obstacle and failure of the Biden administration.
Last month, Harris was appointed by Biden as point person for the administration's response to the crisis, specifically to address the root causes in Northern Triangle countries that lead to the mass amount of migrants fleeing to the U.S.
In the vice president's 19 days in charge of the growing immigration crisis, she has not once visited the southern border or Central American countries from which migrants are traveling.
Scalise slammed Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for not yet visiting the southern border amid a growing humanitarian crisis there
He shared a video of a facility in Donna, Texas where migrant children are crammed together on the floor of a see-through pen with only Mylar blankets to comfort them
Critics have slammed Harris for traveling the country for other reasons, like to promote the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and urge Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine.
On Saturday, Scalise shared a video on Twitter exhibiting the massive overcrowding at the migrant processing facility in Donna, Texas.
'I visited the Donna processing facility yesterday,' he wrote, claiming: 'These are the videos Joe Biden & Kamala Harris don't want you to see.'
'This is the devastating result of their disastrous left-wing immigration agenda,' Scalise tweeted.
He urged his followers: 'RT so everyone can see what they're trying to hide.'
'This is child abuse.'
The images in the video show children crammed together in a see-through pen, with most laying on the floor of the facility with only mylar blankets as comfort.
Further complicating the evolving situation, the White House's border coordinator Roberta Jacobson announced after just one month in her post she is resigning at the end of April.
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