WASHINGTON Chris Magnus of Tucson, Ariz., has always been an unusual police chief.
He publicly criticized the anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration. He appeared to surprise his own mayor when he abruptly offered his resignation after releasing a video of a man who died in police custody. He was recognized nationally as the man in uniform hoisting a “Black Lives Matter” sign at a protest.
President Biden is now preparing to nominate Chief Magnus to be the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, signaling an intent to bring a seismic cultural shift to an agency at the center of some of the more contentious policies of President Donald J. Trump, particularly the separation of thousands of migrant children from their families. Chief Magnus will be expected to make good on Mr. Biden’s campaign pledge to increase oversight at the sprawling agency, one 60 times larger than the department of roughly 800 officers he led in Tucson.
Biden nominates former New Jersey attorney general to lead D.E.A.
Anne Milgram served as New Jersey attorney general from 2007 to 2010.Credit.Ozier Muhammad for The New York Times
April 12, 2021, 9:03 p.m. ET
President Biden on Monday nominated Anne Milgram, a former New Jersey attorney general, to direct the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Justice Department’s lead agency for investigating drug trafficking and manufacturing.
The D.E.A. has not had a politically appointed leader since the Obama administration.
Ms. Milgram served as attorney general under Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, from 2007 to 2010 and built her reputation on fighting crime in the city of Camden. She also served as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan and a federal prosecutor. In her new role, Ms. Milgram would be tasked with confronting the country’s opioid crisis.
Art Institute of Chicago Names Its Next Board Chief
Denise Gardner, who will start in the post in November, is believed to be the country’s first Black woman to lead a major museum board.
Denise Gardner, who has championed Black artists, as well as art accessibility and education for underrepresented audiences. “In this role, I can help the museum accelerate their progress,” she said.Credit.Lori Sapio, via Art Institute of Chicago
April 13, 2021, 1:32 p.m. ET
The longtime art collector and marketing executive Denise Gardner will become the chairwoman of the Art Institute of Chicago in November, perhaps the country’s first Black woman to hold that position on a major museum board.
If confirmed, Chris Magnus would step into a major challenge facing the Biden administration: how to handle a record number of border crossings that are projected to increase in the coming months.