Trump CBP Nominee Grilled Over Role in 2010 Border Death
Rodney Scott is accused of ‘cover-up’ by Senate Democrats
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s nominee, Rodney Scott, to lead U.S. Customs and Border Protection is facing intense scrutiny after a human rights tribunal found the U.S. responsible for the 2010 death of a Mexican national at the hands of federal border agents—an incident Senate Democrats say Scott helped cover up.
During a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday, lawmakers confronted Scott, a former Border Patrol chief, over his role in the death of Anastasio Hernández Rojas, who was severely beaten and repeatedly electroshocked while in CBP custody in San Diego.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights determined that the U.S. violated Hernández Rojas’ right to life and failed to adequately investigate or hold agents accountable. The tribunal’s decision marks the first time it has held the U.S. responsible for a death caused by law enforcement.
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Scott, who was the acting deputy chief patrol agent in San Diego at the time, was not at the scene of the incident. But a growing body of evidence suggests he played a key role in what critics call a coordinated internal effort to suppress evidence and shield the agency from legal consequences.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the panel’s top Democrat, accused Scott of failing to follow CBP’s own investigative protocols, stating during the hearing: “Rather than following the agency’s own policy and immediately referring the incident to outside investigators, the San Diego CBP office began its own investigation” (Government Executive).
Wyden continued: “In the course of that investigation, the CBP officers taped over the only video copy of Hernández Rojas’s death and tampered with physical evidence, according to court documents.”
In a separate LA Times report, the Inter-American Commission’s findings echoed Wyden’s concerns. “The commission found that the U.S. failed to investigate Hernández Rojas’ death properly,” the article stated, “and pointed to irregularities in how Border Patrol agents had handled the aftermath of the killing, including confiscating and deleting witness videos and withholding key evidence.”
Scott, for his part, has denied any wrongdoing. When asked directly during the hearing whether he had participated in a cover-up, he replied: “Absolutely not” (Government Executive). He argued that his request for Hernández Rojas’s medical records via subpoena was “the standard process at the time.”
But that claim has been challenged by former CBP officials. According to the Mercury News, James Wong, a former senior official in CBP’s Office of Internal Affairs, alleged that Scott “approved a subpoena for the hospital records of the man who died, a move that Wong and others said was both improper and designed to benefit the agency’s legal position.”
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Another former DHS official interviewed by the Mercury News described the situation more starkly: “They had this guy’s blood on their hands and they went into damage control mode.”
Despite bipartisan concerns, Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-ID) came to Scott’s defense, citing a letter from current Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. According to Government Executive, Noem told the committee that she had reviewed the 2010 incident and concluded that Scott’s work “was in accordance with his duties, the law and professional standards.”
Still, Wyden pushed back on the secretary’s account: “There have been these serious allegations made by the former heads of internal affairs about Mr. Scott’s involvement and the cover up of the death of Mr. Hernández Rojas,” he said. “I don’t believe this committee should take this letter on faith.”
Scott’s nomination arrives at a time of heightened political pressure over immigration enforcement and accountability at the border. He previously oversaw implementation of the controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy during Trump’s first term and has pledged to restore “law and order” to CBP by focusing on staffing and technological upgrades.
“I will leverage my experience to empower the men and women of CBP to do what they were hired to do—safeguard every American by securing our borders and keeping trade and travel moving,” Scott said in his opening remarks (Government Executive).
But as rights advocates and lawmakers continue to question whether Scott can lead with integrity, the ghost of a single brutal night in 2010 hangs over his confirmation.
The committee has yet to schedule a vote on his nomination.