EXCLUSIVE — The nomination of former U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott to lead U.S. Customs and Border Protection has drawn broad support and excitement from Border Patrol agents nationwide.
Agents from the rank-and-file level to the upper echelon of management told the Washington Examiner on Friday that they see the tide beginning to turn after a tumultuous four years of record-high arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border and crime committed within the country by illegal immigrants.
“Great Pick! Super popular Chief with the Rank in File,” a senior agent in Texas wrote in a message.
“What can i say? Things are going to be serious now,” a second agent said in a message.
A third agent compared Scott to being the federal law enforcement agency’s “savior.”
“I am loving it,” the third agent said in a phone call. “We’re all ecstatic. it was needed because this administration that’s in right now that we’re living under, they’ve left a pretty bad taste in our mouths, and the morale is pretty low because of it. We got sick and tired of watching the criminals and everyone get away with everything. There was a reason everyone named us the ‘Welcome Patrol.'”
“This is absolutely great,” a fourth agent, based in the Washington headquarters, wrote in a message. “Chief Scott will put CBP in a better place to better security and trade.”
A fifth agent, this one in management, hoped Scott would be able to increase public awareness and transparency with the public.
“Great nomination, hopefully he will be able to make the right changes and be more transparent than Mayorkas,” the fifth agent wrote in a message.
Trump announced late Thursday that he would nominate Scott, whom Biden let go in August 2021 after he came out against banning the term “illegal alien,” as the leader of the 65,000-person federal agency inside the Department of Homeland Security. Scott’s nomination ended a monthlong debate over who would win the coveted job.
“Rodney served nearly three decades in the Border Patrol, building vast experience and knowledge in Law Enforcement and Border Security,” Trump said in a statement. “Rodney served as the 24th Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, where he implemented Remain-in-Mexico, Title 42, Safe Third Agreements, and achieved record low levels of illegal immigration.”
Scott is from Southern California and joined the Border Patrol in 1992 at the Imperial Beach Station out of San Diego. He worked his way up through the ranks with positions across the country before being named antiterrorism adviser to the CBP commissioner after the 9/11 terrorist attack then was promoted to deputy executive director of the CBP Office of Anti-Terrorism.
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Scott was promoted to Border Patrol chief under Trump but was forced out in August 2021 in a move that was “completely driven by politics,” according to one person familiar with the internal dealings.
The 29-year law enforcement veteran took on a visiting fellow role at the Texas Public Policy Foundation in Austin, Texas, since leaving the Border Patrol.