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President Trump announced Sunday afternoon that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen "will be leaving her post" after 16 months of work.
Trump also announced that US Commissioner for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Kevin McAleenan would replace Nielsen as acting secretary, tweeting, "I'm confident Kevin will do a great job!"
Nielsen tweeted Sunday night that she had submitted her resignation and added: "That's [sic] been an honor of a lifetime to serve with the brave men and women of @DHSgov. I could not be more proud and humiliated for their service, dedication and commitment to keeping our country safe from all threats and dangers. "She included the image of a letter of resignation addressed to Trump in which she wrote Homeland Security for a new age, I decided it was the right time for me to withdraw."
In a tweet following, Nielsen addressed the "brave and dedicated men and women of @DHSgov", saying that she was "eternally grateful and proud of what you do each day." [sic] protect our homeland ".
"Our missions as a department are vast and have never been so vital," wrote Nielsen. "You are in the arena – continue the good fight, thank you for your sacrifices and those of your families, God bless you and God bless our great country."
Nielsen met Donald Trump on Sunday at the White House as many migrants crowded the US-Mexico border to tax the US immigration system and create frustration within the administration. The Associated Press, citing two sources, reported that Nielsen had been frustrated by the difficulty of calling on other departments to cope with the increasing number of families crossing the southwestern border.
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Administration sources told Fox News on Sunday night that Nielsen's track record in cybersecurity made it ill-suited to deal with border issues, while McAleenan was more in tune with Trump's requirements. To be the "toughest policeman" of the border.
Nielsen missed last week's meeting in Paris of Interior Ministers of the Group of Seven (G-7) to deal with the migration crisis, which she compared as a result a category 5 hurricane.
She has also been on social media in recent days, tweeting that Congress should equip border and immigration officials with the tools and resources needed to "fulfill our humanitarian and security mission". .
Nielsen went to El Paso, Texas on Wednesday, marking his first stop in a cross-border tour to assess the influx of migrants and the department's response. "Our system and facilities have never been structured to withstand the current influx of immigrants," she said.
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On Friday, Nielsen and Trump participated in a round table with border officials and local law enforcement officials. She echoed Trump's comments on the situation at the border, although she hid out of the room without explanation for some time while Trump was speaking. While they were visiting a section of newly reconstructed gates, Nielsen was standing with Trump, introducing him to local authorities. She then returned to Washington on a Coast Guard Gulfstream, while Trump continued on his fundraising trip to California and Nevada.
In October 2017, Trump appointed Nielsen to the position of Homeland Security Secretary, replacing former Chief John Kelly, whom Trump had appointed Chief of Staff of the White House a few months earlier. The Senate confirmed it in December of the same year.
Nielsen was seen as resisting the harshest immigration measures supported by the president and his aides, including senior advisor Stephen Miller, both at the border and on other issues such as the protection status of some refugees. Once Kelly left the White House at the end of last year, Nielsen's days seemed to be numbered. She was expecting to be expelled last November, but her exit never materialized. And during the government's closure following Trump's efforts to finance a border wall, Nielsen's stock in the White House seemed to even increase.
Trump named McAleenan Commissioner of the CBP on the first day of his presidency, but McAleenan was not confirmed by the Senate until March 2018. He was appointed Deputy Commissioner of the CBP in November 2014 by President Barack Obama .
Sources told Fox News that this was a reminder of whether McAleenan could fulfill the political obligations of the position of Permanent Secretary for Homeland Security, although he noted excellent relations with the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security, and State and the National Security Council. McAleenan also has a reputation within CBP for being "brilliant" with "tremendous organizational skills".
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The departure of Nielsen is the latest reshuffle of the department, created to fight terrorism after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
On Friday, Trump confirmed that he had withdrawn the candidacy of Ron Vitiello, Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as permanent director of the agency. He told reporters that "Ron is a good man, but we are going in a tougher direction, we want to go in a more difficult direction." Administrative sources told Fox News that the withdrawal of Vitiello's nomination was the first step of Trump's plan to control the border crisis.
The second step was to ask for Nielsen's resignation.
John Roberts, Fox News, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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