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Kevin McAleenan Resigns as Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan Resigns as Acting Homeland Security Secretary
(32 minutes later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump announced on Friday the departure of Kevin K. McAleenan, the acting secretary for the Department of Homeland Security who spent his six-month tenure trying to curb a surge of asylum seekers at the southwestern border while managing a turbulent relationship with a president intent on restricting immigration. WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Friday the resignation of Kevin K. McAleenan, the acting secretary for the Department of Homeland Security who spent his six-month tenure trying to curb a surge of asylum seekers at the southwestern border while managing a turbulent relationship with a president intent on restricting immigration.
Noting that they have “worked well together with Border Crossings being way down,” Mr. Trump said on Twitter that Mr. McAleenan wanted “to spend more time with his family and go to the private sector.” Noting that they had “worked well together with Border Crossings being way down,” Mr. Trump said on Twitter that Mr. McAleenan wanted “to spend more time with his family and go to the private sector.”
Mr. McAleenan’s exit from the White House came after he tried publicly to embrace the president's increasingly aggressive assault on legal and illegal immigration even as he privately resisted some of Mr. Trump’s most extreme ideas. Mr. McAleenan’s departure from the White House came after he tried to embrace the president's increasingly aggressive assault on legal and illegal immigration publicly even as he privately resisted some of Mr. Trump’s most extreme ideas.
In an interview last week with The Washington Post, Mr. McAleenan complained about what he called the “tone, the message, the public face and approach” of immigration policy — a not-so-subtle reproach of the president’s own language about the border. A former deputy commissioner for the nation’s border security agency under President Barack Obama, Mr. McAleenan watched in recent months as the White House surrounded him with Fox News contributors to key positions in the agency.
The comments enraged some of the president’s staunch allies, who called it an unforgivable public statement about his boss. In an interview last week with The Washington Post, Mr. McAleenan complained about what he called the “tone, the message, the public face and approach” of immigration policy — a not-so-subtle reproach of the president’s own language.
At the same time, Mr. McAleenan drew furious criticism from Democrats and immigration activists, who blamed him for going along with the president’s efforts to separate families at the border, block asylum seekers and deny green cards to poor immigrants. The comments enraged some of the president’s staunchest allies, who had already targeted Mr. McAleenan for resisting nationwide deportation raids this year against migrant families.
Mr. McAleenan went to the White House on Friday to offer his resignation and volunteer to stay on the job until the end of the month, a move made in part to avoid having the president assert that he had forced him out, according to administration officials. Mr. Trump said in his Twitter post that he would name a head of the agency next week. In his resignation letter, Mr. McAleenan attributed his exit to “personal and family reasons.”
“The 6 months I have served as acting secretary have been both galvanizing and enervating,” Mr. McAleenan said in the letter.
A senior White House official said it was unclear who would succeed Mr. McAleenan. The deputy secretary of homeland security, David Pekoske, is serving in an acting position.
Under Mr. McAleenan’s leadership, the Department of Homeland Security sought to curb a surge of Central American families from crossing the southwestern border with policies that Democrats and immigration advocates described as cruel and inhumane. Last spring, the department came under fire for not providing adequate care to migrant children in cramped Border Patrol facilities that were built to hold single adults.
Mr. McAleenan expanded a program that has forced about 50,000 migrants, most of them asylum seekers, to stay in Mexico — including in areas where the State Department has issued warnings to American citizens because of its high level of violence — while they await their immigration hearing in the United States.
He has signed deals with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras that would deny asylum protections to most Central American migrants if they failed to apply for the protections in at least one country on their way to the United States’ southwestern border. The agreements have not yet been enforced, however, the Supreme Court allowed the United States to unilaterally deny the protections to such Central American migrants at the border.
While Mr. McAleenan commanded respect among law enforcement officials in the department and some Democrats, others blamed him for going along with the president’s efforts to separate families at the border, denying green cards to poor immigrants and turning a security agency created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks into the engine of Mr. Trump’s immigration agenda.
On Monday, Mr. McAleenan was forced off the stage at Georgetown Law School, where he was scheduled to participate in an immigration forum. Protesters held signs that said “Stand with immigrants” and “Hate is not normal.” They chanted until he left the stage.On Monday, Mr. McAleenan was forced off the stage at Georgetown Law School, where he was scheduled to participate in an immigration forum. Protesters held signs that said “Stand with immigrants” and “Hate is not normal.” They chanted until he left the stage.
In his announcement, the president said that he would name a new acting secretary next week, but it was not immediately clear who would succeed Mr. McAleenan.
Mr. McAleenan, the president’s fourth homeland security secretary, appeared to be on his way out almost from the moment he replaced Kirstjen Nielsen, who was fired in April by Mr. Trump in a purge of several top immigration officials in the administration.Mr. McAleenan, the president’s fourth homeland security secretary, appeared to be on his way out almost from the moment he replaced Kirstjen Nielsen, who was fired in April by Mr. Trump in a purge of several top immigration officials in the administration.
The president never nominated Mr. McAleenan to permanently assume the position and sometimes offered weak praise for the job he was doing. For the last several months, Mr. McAleenan, a career law enforcement official, has watched as the White House surrounded him with immigration hard-liners to oversee parts of his jurisdiction. The president never nominated Mr. McAleenan to permanently assume the position and sometimes offered weak praise for the job he was doing. While Mr. McAleenan believed in restoring state department aid for Central American countries, Mr. Trump often assailed the nations and the migrants crossing at the border.
Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, who once advocated an end to birthright citizenship, was installed to lead the agency that manages legal immigration. Mark Morgan, who once said he could determine future gang members by looking at detained migrant children, was selected to oversee Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And Thomas D. Homan, who has supported the president’s separation of families in appearances on Fox News, was mentioned as a possible border czar to coordinate border policy. “I also believe strongly in investing in the growing collaboration with the governments of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, and see real opportunity to change the dynamic in the region through these partnerships,” Mr. McAleenan said in his resignation letter.
Under the Vacancies Act, which stipulates that the position must go to certain ranked officials in the department, none of those hard-liners can immediately succeed Mr. McAleenan. Mr. Cuccinelli would face strong opposition from the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, for his political efforts to back insurgent Senate candidates, including one challenging Mr. McConnell. While Mr. McAleenan had the strong backing of Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, he clashed over personnel decisions with Stephen Miller, a White House aid and the architect of Mr. Trump’s immigration agenda. In recent months, Mr. McAleenan grew increasingly irritated by the harsh language used by agency officials installed by the White House.
Mr. McAleenan, a former lawyer who once served in the Obama administration, oversaw homeland security as it grappled with the highest number of crossings at the southwestern border in more than a decade, prompting the White House to issue aggressive policies against one of its closest allies. Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, who once advocated an end to birthright citizenship, was installed to lead the agency that manages legal immigration. Mark Morgan, who once said he could determine future gang members by looking at detained migrant children, was selected to oversee Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He then replaced John Sanders, an ally of Mr. McAleenan, to lead Customs and Border Protection. Both are serving in acting positions.
None of those hard-liners can immediately succeed Mr. McAleenan under the Vacancies Act, which stipulates that the position must go to certain ranked officials in the department. Mr. Cuccinelli would face strong opposition from the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, for his political efforts to back insurgent Senate candidates, including one challenging Mr. McConnell.
Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the House Homeland Security committee, derided the department’s turnover. “President Trump cannot continue to rely on instilling ‘acting’ — and potentially unlawful — figureheads for this critical position,” Mr. Thompson said in a statement. “The next secretary must also understand that bowing to President Trump’s obsession over a wall and keeping people out is not part of the job description.”
Mr. McAleenan, a former lawyer who attended Amherst College, had pushed back on some of the White House’s initiatives. When Mr. Morgan and advocated widespread deportations to round up families that recently crossed the border, Mr. McAleenan delayed the operation for fear that families would be separated in the interior of the country and agents’ safety would be at risk.
When Mr. Trump threatened Mexico with tariffs this spring, Mr. McAleenan helped secure a deal that deployed Mexico’s military to its southern border to halt migration to the United States.
While homeland security grappled with the highest number of crossings at the southwestern border in more than a decade in May, the figures have declined by more than 65 percent. Along the way, migrants forced to wait in Mexico have been subjected to kidnappings and violence.