Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan is stepping down

Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan is leaving the agency, the latest high-profile departure of a top-level federal manager since President Trump came to office.

Kevin McAleenan, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, announced Morgan's exit and thanked him for his "unwavering dedication to our border security mission." He did not elaborate on why Morgan is leaving, and Morgan did not release a statement of his own.

A former FBI agent and the first outsider to lead the agency since its founding in 1924, Morgan has been at odds with the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents agents, NBC News reports; Morgan's first job was looking into allegations that Border Patrol agents abused migrants. The union endorsed Trump early on in his campaign, after he called Mexican immigrants "rapists" and "criminals" and promised the U.S. would build a wall along the border with Mexico, paid for by Mexico. On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order directing federal funding to build the barrier.

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