John Sanders, the Customs and Border Protection agency’s commissioner and primary border enforcement executive, has announced his resignation. Sanders’ resignation, which will officially go into effect in early July, is occurring amid a battle with the public with regard to the treatment of migrant children in detainment. The revealing of Sanders’ resignation came promptly after agency officials showed approximately 100 children returning to a Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas.
After journalists reported the resignation, Sanders sent an email to his fellow workers explaining the situation. Before this position, Sanders was the chief technology officer for the Transportation Security Administration and also developed technology for national security initiatives. Moreover, Sanders has been the leader of the agency ever since President Trump replaced former commissioner Kevin McAleenan, who in turn replaced former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
An anonymous official, who lacked authority to talk about the matter, vaguely commented on the uncertain correlation between the resignation and the criticism of migrant family treatment that the agency was receiving. Furthermore, the station has been under fire since a group of lawyers reported the people had been denied access to showers, sufficient food, and clean clothing. However, the testimony of the lawyers was refuted by the same official who explained how the detainees were, in fact, given access to showers and unlimited snacks.
The story the lawyers released resulted in a public frenzy, especially since 270 children were transferred to either a shelter network for children that is run by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement or an El Paso tent facility that is run by Customs and Border Protection. Once again, the lawyers were proved incorrect by the same official who asserted that the transfers were performed to reduce overcrowding at the Clint facility and to make room for about 100 more children.
The official also commented on the numerous donations, another takeaway from the lawyers’ story, that were being sent by people around the country. The official stated that the agency was in the process of looking at the policy which dealt with outside donations, but also reiterated that supplies were not low and were available to the detainees. With many theories circling, the anonymous official wanted to make clear that the detainees were being treated fairly and had access to the essentials.
It is unclear what the next step will be for Customs and Border Protection under the Trump administration, as the president has made clear his intent to expedite the deportation of illegal immigrants residing within the United States.
