The Biden administration is pushing out the most senior career official at the country’s largest law enforcement agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to two people with firsthand knowledge.
Political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security chose not to keep CBP Deputy Commissioner Robert Perez on as the second in command of the federal agency. Perez was promoted to his position at CBP headquarters in Washington in July 2018 and oversaw operations of trade, travel, immigration, and national security at land, air, and sea borders.
Biden officials attempted to demote Perez, a 29-year federal law enforcement officer, by transferring him to an office in Tucson, Arizona. Perez now plans to retire, the people said.
The new deputy commissioner is expected to be Troy Miller, who has been working as the senior official performing the duties of the commissioner since Biden took office in late January. Miller and Perez both previously held positions as the director of field operations for CBP’s New York field office, the offices of which inspect international mail, cargo, and people coming into the United States from abroad.
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Miller was executive director of the National Targeting Center, which is responsible for implementing the agency’s counterterrorism strategy. He started his career in 1993 as a customs inspector. Miller was expected to be a temporary fill-in at headquarters but has carried out the Biden administration’s changes to immigration policies, even rolling out a memo to employees that instructed them to stop using terms such as “illegal alien” and instead to use more inclusive language.
Mike Pence
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In April, Biden nominated Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus to oversee CBP. The agency is the second-largest revenue generator in the government and collects fees from importers and travelers at ports of entry. The Border Patrol is a part of CBP, and its 20,000 agents work in between ports of entry. The deputy commissioner slot does not require Senate confirmation. However, the commissioner post does.
Senior executive officials in government cannot be terminated or pushed out of their posts in the first 120 days of a new administration. Changes at CBP are expected to take place around May 20.
CBP and Perez did not respond to requests for comment.
