Border agency chief faces challenges from within and outside

By BEN FOX, ANITA SNOW and ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press

YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — Chris Magnus has many challenges to overcome in his new role as commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Among them are agent discontent, allegations of migrant mistreatment, a failure to recruit more women and an asylum system that many view as broken. In an interview with The Associated Press, Magnus acknowledged morale problems within the nation’s largest law enforcement agency but offered no quick answers to the heavy migration flow to the U.S., which attracts more asylum seekers than any other country. Magnus might seem like an unconventional pick. As police chief in Tucson, Arizona, he rejected federal grants to collaborate on border security with the agency he now leads and kept a distance from Border Patrol leaders.