Trump eliminates the secret service director as the purge of DHS leadership expands

"They decapitate the whole department," said a DHS official, noting that the White House had given no reason to fire Alles.

The instability extends to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose director, William "Brock" Long, left the DHS in February after overseeing the emergency and response efforts. recovery following several major natural disasters. L. Francis Cissna, Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and DHS General Counsel John Mitnick may be the next to leave, DHS officials said on Monday. Speaking under the guise of anonymity, to speak frankly of their frustrations vis-à-vis the White House.

Then Randolph secret service director "Tex" Alles, seen in February 2018. (David Goldman / AP)

Since the establishment of the department following the September 11 terrorist attacks, successive presidents have viewed DHS stability as a top priority for national security, counter-terrorism efforts and, more broadly, for peace and security. collective spirit of the country.

With almost two dozen agencies and sub-agencies, DHS is responsible for safeguarding the country's immigration system, cyber-networks, land borders and coastlines, as well as disaster management and disaster management. protection of the country's public officials.

Trump is furious about the department's inability to reduce unauthorized migration to the United States, one of its signature campaign problems becoming a flagrant failure. Several administration officials said Monday that Trump seemed to dispel his frustrations over the entire DHS leadership, believing that he needed a thorough analysis.

DHS officials viewed politics as one of Nielsen's most important initiatives – they hoped to expand their use beyond the southern border – leaving the department with no room for action. one of the tools he relied on to deter more Central American migrants from traveling.

[Judge blocks Trump plan forcing migrants to wait in Mexico]

Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, said that the border crisis caused by the largest wave of migration of the decade was compounded by the rapid withdrawal of many leaders of internal security. .

"In addition to the congressional malfunction, I am concerned about the growing leadership vacuum within the department tasked with addressing some of the most important issues facing the country," Johnson wrote on Twitter Monday.

"More difficult" direction

No president until Trump pushed the country's security agencies into such confusion, the former and current DHS officials announced on Monday.

Ronald Vitiello was President Trump's candidate for US police direction for immigration and customs formalities, but he was one of the leaders Trump targeted to be removed from his post of agency manager in recent days. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)

Last week, Trump abruptly canceled the appointment of Ronald Vitiello as Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the United States, saying he wanted to move in a "harder" direction. Both Alles and Vitiello reported to Nielsen.

[Kevin McAleenan is taking over DHS. Will he be “tough” enough for Trump?]

Trump's senior advisor, Stephen Miller, was among the personalities calling on the president to clean up DHS, encouraging Trump to broaden his goals across the department, not just to the agencies responsible for the policy. Immigration and border surveillance, White House officials announced Monday.

"Immigration was the central issue of the president, and for various reasons, the situation is getting out of control," said Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a group proposing proposals to reduce 39, which had a decisive influence on Trump White. House.

Krikorian said that the 2020 elections "are not far away, and he needs to be able to show progress" in managing the border crisis. By threatening to cut aid to Central America and close the border with Mexico, Trump "throws anything against the wall to see what sticks".

Trump named General John Kelly, Navy General, as DHS Secretary after his victory in 2016, partly to reassure the country that a former reality TV star would surround himself with military leaders and security experts.

Two years later, the president believes more and more that the entire management structure put in place by Kelly is ineffective, said officials of the administration, past and present.

A former DHS official said that when former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had left the state department, many of the members appointed to political office had left office. But when Kelly left the DHS, most of the members appointed to political positions remained. "They needed a big reshuffle," said the former manager.

After Trump had learned last week that more than 103,000 migrants had arrived at the Mexican border in March – the highest number in more than a decade – he was livid, according to a White House official. The president was also frustrated by the fact that Nielsen and others did not want to close the border and change the rules to immediately prevent migrants from coming to the US to apply for asylum.

"House cleaning"

DHS officials are now looking for a way to meet the president's demand for "tough" measures, including a plan called "binary choice" that would give migrant parents the choice to remain in detention as a family or other "family". accept a separation so that their children do not remain in detention with immigration.

The goal of the plan would be to end the "catch and release" model that allows most migrant families to be released to the United States pending their appearance before an immigration judge.

The implementation of the binary choice without the approval of the legislator risks another court order.

"The president does not like the information he has on immigration and has blamed leadership in DHS, but it's not something that leadership within the department can be resolved," he said. Stewart Baker, a senior adviser to President George W. Bush on DHS. "It must be settled by Congress and there does not seem to be any taste for it."

Trump has suggested to his associates in recent weeks that the administration's previous policy of separating families at the border could be used to discourage crossings and that its version could be reinstated, according to two people familiar with the talks. . Some assistants resisted the idea of ​​family separations, citing public reaction last summer and noting that Trump himself had reversed it.

The president had been annoyed by Nielsen for months, even though he sometimes gave him compensation if things went well, officials said.

Trump wanted the border to be closed two weeks ago, but was dissuaded by Nielsen and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, among others. Nielsen confided to confidants that she felt uncomfortable with some of the president's requests, particularly with regard to the closing of the border, and that she thought the president would not did not include many of the laws governing immigration.

"He just wants radical and drastic actions," said another White House official who also spoke under the guise of anonymity, adding that others said: "We can not not do that. "

Trump came to associate Alles with Kelly, whom he has frequently criticized since the leader's departure – particularly after Kelly's public statements, which Trump considered critical of his administration. Trump is also making fun of Nielsen for his closeness to Kelly, said former and current collaborators.

Trump has chosen Alles, retired general of the Marine Corps and former acting deputy commissioner of CBP, in 2017. He has been the first director of the secret service for at least 100 years, outside the ranks of the United States. agency.

Richard Staropoli, a former secret service agent and former senior DHS official at Trump, said the president appeared to be dismissing several key people who had been appointed on Kelly's recommendation.

"He was pushed by John Kelly," Staropoli said. "The president likes generals. But now, it looks like he's cleaning up. "

Staropoli said the number of director changes within the service is staggering.

"The secret service is a culture that does not handle change very well," he said. "Continuing to change the director – this guy has only been there for two years – is not a good way for secret services to work."

"It's like getting rid of all" Kelly's Friends, "said Jonathan Wackrow, former member of President Barack Obama's group.

Wackrow said Alles was being announced as the first "outsider" who would attempt to resolve the major security and misconduct issues that had affected the service during the Obama administration and early in Trump's tenure. But he has not been able to address some of the service's longstanding problems, Wackrow said, including difficulties recruiting and retaining officers who help patrol the White House.

White House officials said the security breach in President Mar-L-Lago's area last week had nothing to do with Alles dismissal. In a note sent Monday to secret service staff, Alles told his staff that the information that he was fired was incorrect.

"There is no doubt that you have seen reports in the media about my" dismissal. "I assure you this is not the case.The administration has actually told the Administration A few weeks ago, it was necessary to expect leadership transitions within the Department of Homeland Security, "Alles said. wrote.

James M. Murray, a career member of the secret service, will take office as director in May, said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders in a statement.

Devlin Barrett and David Fahrenthold contributed to this report.