MI CBP director charged with defrauding FEMA and lying to feds

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) bigwig in Michigan just got her hand caught in the cookie jar, and it’s a doozy. Serina Baker-Hill, 55, a career suit who runs CBP’s Center for Excellence and Expertise over Automotive and Aerospace Engineering, is staring down the barrel of a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday by the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

The charge? Cooking up a scheme to bleed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) dry after floods trashed her home in 2023, then lying through her teeth to federal agents about it.

This all kicked off when Michigan got slammed by floods in August 2023, turning the Detroit area into a swamp. FEMA greenlit a federal disaster declaration, opening the spigot for residents to tap assistance. Baker-Hill, whose basement took a hit, jumped in line. A FEMA inspector scoped her place and confirmed the damage. She played the sob story, claiming she couldn’t live there while repairs dragged on. 

FEMA bought it—hook, line, and sinker—cutting her checks for repairs and tossing in two months of rental assistance to cover “temporary housing.” The approval letter was crystal clear: use it for rent and basic utilities, nothing else.

Except, surprise, she didn’t. Investigators dug into her bank records and found zilch—nada—spent on rent, hotels, or utilities. Then they pulled surveillance video from the house. Guess who’s still crashing there with her husband, cozy as ever, after pocketing the cash? Yep, Baker-Hill. Utility records didn’t show the kind of dip you’d expect from an empty house either. The DOJ’s got her dead to rights.

FBI Director Kash Patel didn’t mince words on X: "Following efforts with our interagency partners, I can report that a career Director level employee at US Customs and Border Protection has been charged with allegedly attempting to defraud FEMA, as well as lying to federal agents. This is part of the new FBI’s renewed efforts to crack down on public corruption and deliver accountability for the American people. Justice will be done. Thanks to our partners @AGPamBondi @TheJusticeDept and our @FBIDetroit team for their work."

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When FBI and CBP Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) agents sat her down, Baker-Hill stuck to her guns, denying she’d done anything shady or ripped off Uncle Sam. Bold move. The investigation’s still churning, and once the dust settles, they’ll decide if she’s catching a felony indictment.

So here we are: a high-rolling CBP director, supposed to be a straight arrow, allegedly gaming the system while her neighbors drowned in floodwater. If the evidence holds, she’s not just sunk—she’s torpedoed.

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Biden border security czar Chris Magnus "quit or get fired"

Alleged President Biden's security czar comrade Chris Magnus has been given his marching orders to either resign or be fired. He responded with a symbolic middle finger.

Magnus is the head of the oxymoronically named US Customs and Border Protection, the agency that protects our borders like a glass of water on a windowsill protects a house from a lightning strike.

He is being forced out because he's as useless as a screen door on a submarine as the number of illegal border crossings surge to record highs in fiscal 2022. But at least he broke a record.

Magnus, 61, [aka "Kettle"] said in a statement to the LA Times that he was refusing to step down after being asked Wednesday by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas [aka Black] to consider his position. For his part, Mayorkas is as useless as a jumprope for a snake.

“I am excited about the progress I made and look forward to continuing that work,” Magnus said. "Heck, I even set an American record: the most Spanish-speaking folks to ever enter the USA in a year. That's gotta count for something."

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A record number of migrants — 2.4 million — were were stopped at the US border with Mexico in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, a 37% surge from a year earlier. Of those, most were not terrorists, but more than the number required to fly a jet into large buildings.

The news comes just weeks after Politico reported that Magnus was missing or sleeping through key meetings on the ongoing border surge. His excuse was that he was merely following the President's example.

Final Fun Fact: Voting for Biden and Fetterman was a no-brainer.

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