Biden Administration Asks Trump-Era Border Patrol Chief to Step Down

BY Tara Dublin June 23, 2021

As Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to head to the border amidst growing criticism from Republicans, the Biden Administration is ousting one of the last few Trump-era appointees still remaining in their old positions.

Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott was asked to step down on Wednesday, effectively ending his tenure in the role that many had expected would not outlast the Trump administration. Scott was sent a letter known as the “3 R” letter that gives a senior government employee the option between retiring, resigning, or relocating to a different job within the department.

FILE – In this March 13, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump speaks during as he reviews border wall prototypes, in San Diego, as Rodney Scott, the Border Patrol’s San Diego sector chief, listens. Congress is heading toward a post-election showdown over President Donald Trump’s border wall, as GOP leaders signal they’re willing to engage in hardball tactics that could spark a partial government shutdown and the president revs up midterm crowds for the wall, a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign and a top White House priority. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

As Border Patrol chief, Scott was in charge of men and women who apprehend and process migrants crossing illegally between ports of entry on the northern and southern U.S. border, the latter of which is experiencing a 20-year high in border crossings.

Biden just put the chief of trump’s Border Patrol on the fence, two days before the VP visit.

— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@NotHoodlum) June 23, 2021

A controversial appointment thanks to his involvement in a Facebook group that mocked dead migrant children and circulated vulgar and sexist memes about Democratic members of Congress, Scott also shared vulgar memes about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez along with sexist messaging. One meme was a photoshopped picture of Donald Trump forcing Ocasio-Cortez to perform a sexual act.

SCOOP: Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott is stepping down, per three people familiar. Deputy chief Raul Ortiz will take over on interim basis.

— Nick Miroff (@NickMiroff) June 23, 2021

Despite being aware of Scott’s social media posts, he was confirmed by the GOP-controlled Senate and assumed the role of Border Patrol chief in February 2020. It had been widely presumed that he would depart with the change in administration, and with the Vice President visiting the border this week, the time for him to depart had long since passed.

BP Chief Rodney Scott once told me he didn't think of me as a person w integrity bc I exposed pix of his agents teaching children to shoot at migrant cut-outs. Then I did a know-your-rights training at church conference he was at. How dare I violate his sacred space, he said. https://t.co/0HD4yScmfm pic.twitter.com/MnpsxRRXbH

— Pedro Rios (@Pedroconsafos) June 23, 2021

Scott has responded…with a post on Facebook, of course.