Nielsen to homeland security while Trump focuses on the border

WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has resigned amid growing President Donald Trump's growing frustration and bitterness at the number of families across Central America crossing the southern border.

Trump announced in a tweet on Sunday that US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan would assume the role of interim director of the department. McAleenan is a long-time border official who is well respected by many members of Congress and the administration. The decision to appoint a senior immigration official to this post reflects Trump's priority for the sprawling department founded to fight terrorism following the September 11 attacks.

"I determined that the time had come for me to withdraw," Nielsen wrote in his resignation letter. "I hope that the next secretary will have the support of Congress and the courts to lay down the laws that have hindered our ability to fully secure the borders of America and that have contributed to discord in the United States. speech of our nation. "

Although Trump's aides envisioned a reshuffle of the Department of Homeland Security staff and had already withdrawn the bid for another key immigration position, Sunday's development was unexpected.

We still did not know how McAleenan would take on this role immediately. Claire Grady, the under-secretary at the agency's management, is technically the next.

Nielsen traveled to the US-Mexico border on Friday with Trump to participate in a roundtable with border services officers and local law enforcement officials. There, she echoed Trump's comments on the situation at the border, though she escaped from the room while Trump spoke. 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 while Trump continued her fundraising trip to California and Nevada.

Nielsen had become increasingly frustrated with what she saw as lack of support from other departments and increased interference from Trump's helpers on difficult immigration issues, according to three. people aware of the details of his resignation. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss the matter.

She went to the White House on Sunday to meet Trump, not knowing if she would be fired or if she would resign. She eventually resigned, although she was not forced to do so, they said.

Nielsen, who has announced that she would stay until Wednesday, is the last person affected by the unprecedented downfall of senior officials and senior Trump government officials, provoked by the president's mercurial management style, his insistence on blind loyalty and unthinking announcements.

Nielsen was also the most prominent cabinet member of the cabinet, and her departure leaves DHS with the Pentagon and White House staff herself without any permanent leader. Patrick Shanahan has been acting Secretary of Defense since the resignation of former Secretary Jim Mattis in December, following criticism of Syria's plans to withdraw from Syria. . White House acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, has been in office since January, following the resignation of John Kelly last year.

McAleenan has contributed to the formulation of many of the administration's policies and is considered extremely competent by congressional leaders, the White House, and those responsible for homeland security. But we do not know if it can really have a bigger impact on border issues. The Trump administration has faced legal restrictions and court decisions that have crippled many of its important efforts to restore border security.

Congress Hispanic Caucus representative Joaquin Castro criticized Nielsen, saying she had spent her term "defending President Trump's cruel anti-immigrant agenda" and described McAleenan's appointment as "deeply troubling" .

"We can not trust him as acting secretary of DHS, based on his history of prioritizing Trump's harmful policies that undermine national security and the economy, and hurt vulnerable families and children in the past. border, "said Castro, a Texas Democrat, in a statement.

Tensions between the White House and Nielsen have persisted almost from the time she became secretary, after her predecessor, Kelly, became the White House's chief of staff in 2017. Nielsen was perceived to be resistant to some of the most more severe in immigration supported by the president. his staff, especially Senior Adviser Stephen Miller, on border issues and other issues such as the protected status of some refugees.

Once Kelly left the White House, Nielsen's days seemed to be numbered and she expected to be deported last November.

When the government shut down following Trump's insistence on funding a border wall, Nielsen's position at the White House seemed to increase. But in recent weeks, as the new wave of migration was taxing resources along the border and Trump was seeking to regain control of the issue for its 2020 re-election campaign, tensions erupted again.

The last straw came when Trump gave Nielsen no opportunity to discuss his decision to withdraw the candidacy of Ron Vitiello, Acting Director of the Immigration and Customs Division, an initiative considered to be part of a Miller's larger effort, a strong man in immigration matters. Allies at the White House to clean up the department and bring more people who share their views, said the people.

Nielsen had wanted to discuss the move with Trump during their Friday border visit, but when there was not much time, she asked for the meeting on Sunday. She entered the room prepared to resign, according to what she had heard. People described growing frustrations on both sides, while Trump was exasperated by the situation at the border and Nielsen was frustrated by White House actions that she considered counterproductive.

Arrests along the southern border have exploded recently. Border officials are on the verge of making 100,000 arrests and entry bans on the southern border in March, more than half of which are families with children. A press conference to announce the latest border numbers – which McAleenan will hold on Monday – has been postponed.

Nielsen conscientiously pushed Trump's immigration policies, including funding the wall of his border, and defended the administration's practice of separating children from parents. She told a Senate committee that the removal of children from parents facing criminal prosecution took place "in the United States every day". But she also helped put an end to politics.

Under Nielsen, asylum-seeking migrants are waiting in Mexico as their cases progress. She also proposed to abandon long-standing regulations that dictate the length of detention of children in immigration detention and asked the US military to provide a bed to the US military for 12,000 to detain all families crossing the border. At present, there is room for about 3,000 families and facilities are at full capacity.

Nielsen also pleaded for a strong defense against cybersecurity and has often stated that she thought the next major terrorist attack would occur online, not by plane or by bomb. Its mission was to help states organize elections following Russia's interference in the 2018 elections.

She had been in charge of the federal agency since December 2017 and was the third Secretary of Homeland Security for this administration. A protégé of Kelly, he took her to the White House after Trump appointed him chief of staff.

Nielsen, 45, was formerly Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and worked for the Transportation Security Administration.

She quickly climbed into the ranks of Trump – joining the transition team after the elections to guide Kelly in the confirmation process. She quickly became a trusted aide to Kelly and the two worked together to impose an order on a dysfunctional White House without clear lines of command.

The House Homeland Security Committee Chair, Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Said his tenure was "a disaster from the start". The policies it has helped to create "have been a catastrophic failure and have helped create the humanitarian crisis at the border".

His Senate counterpart, Senator Ron Johnson, said the government needed "stable, informed and effective leadership within the government and congressional to hope to resolve border security and immigration issues." uncontrollable ".

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Associated Press editors Jill Colvin and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

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This story corrects the month in which border services officers are on the verge of making 100,000 arrests and entry bans in March, not this month.