Trump's CBP chief is stepping down amid exploding criticism over migrant child detention
Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner John Sanders will leave his job next month, The New York Times reported.
Sanders has served as the agency's acting head since the previous commissioner Kevin McAleenan left to head the Department of Homeland Security in April. His departure comes as CBP faces growing criticism of its treatment of detained migrant children, though The Washington Post's Nick Miroff cites a DHS official in saying that isn't the cause of Sanders' resignation.
CBP has long faced scrutiny over its treatment of migrants at the border, especially under President Trump's administration. That ramped up last week amid reports that nearly 300 minors, some as young as 2 and half years old, were facing unsanitary conditions at a Clint, Texas detention facility. Most of them had been transferred out of the facility and to a tent camp on Monday, but on Tuesday, CBP reportedly moved 100 of those children back.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Before heading CBP, Sanders was the agency's chief operating officer and is a close ally of McAleenan. Sanders offered his resignation to McAleenan on Monday, saying it would be effective July 5, The Wall Street Journal notes. He didn't elaborate on his reasons for resigning.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Could smaller cars bring down vehicle prices?Today’s Big Question Trump seems to think so, but experts aren’t so sure
-
2025’s most notable new albumsThe Week Recommends These were some of the finest releases of the past year
-
Trump aims to take down ‘global mothership’ of climate scienceIN THE SPOTLIGHT By moving to dismantle Colorado’s National Center for Atmospheric Research, the White House says it is targeting ‘climate alarmism’
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
