More Trump firings of senior U.S. immigration officials seen likely

[webfact]

More Trump firings of senior U.S. immigration officials seen likely

By Andy Sullivan and Roberta Rampton

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan speaks about the impact of the dramatic increase in illegal crossings that continue to occur along the Southwest during a news conference, in El Paso, Texas March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration stepped up pressure on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday, raising the likelihood that he might fire more senior officials as the agency struggles with a surge of immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico border.

 

Two days after Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced her departure, a senior administration official said others at DHS were not doing enough to enact Trump's promised immigration crackdown, a top priority for him since he announced his candidacy for the White House four years ago.

 

Several DHS officials could be forced out soon, said an official familiar with the matter.

 

Among them were the department's acting No. 2 official, Claire Grady, DHS general counsel John Mitnick and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Francis Cissna, the source said. A DHS spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the officials' expected tenure.

 

Trump denied that he was overhauling DHS and said his administration was fighting "bad laws" on immigration and a court system that "never ever rules for us" - a frequent refrain of his as a succession of policies to curb entry to the United States have been met with legal challenges by civil rights advocates.

 

"Nobody ever said I was cleaning house," Trump told reporters at the White House.

 

Nielsen announced her resignation on Sunday after a meeting with Trump in which the two disagreed on the best way to handle border security.

 

The personnel changes could further destabilize the U.S. domestic security agency as it tries to stem rising numbers of immigrants arriving at the border, many of them families fleeing violence and poverty in Central America. DHS said it arrested or denied entry to more than 103,000 people along the border last month, more than double the March 2018 figure.

 

The U.S. Secret Service said on Monday that its chief Randolph "Tex" Alles would depart his job next month, and Trump last Friday withdrew the nomination of Ronald Vitiello to serve as director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

 

Several top DHS jobs are either vacant or filled on an acting basis, including positions responsible for disaster response, immigration enforcement, finance, policy, and science and technology.

 

"It's not good to have all these people performing in an acting position," said Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, a Republican.

 

FRUSTRATIONS

Trump has grown increasingly frustrated as DHS officials have told him that the dramatic immigration changes they seek are not possible under current law and would require the cooperation of Congress, several sources say.

 

Trump has repeatedly pressed Nielsen over the past several weeks to bring back last year's controversial policy of separating migrant children from their parents, one source said. Trump abandoned that policy last year in the face of widespread public outrage, and it was subsequently struck down in court.

Trump denied on Tuesday that he was reviving the separation policy.

 

Johnson, the Senate Homeland Security Committee chairman, said that policy would have "no support" in Congress.

 

A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said one option may be to give migrant families a choice of staying in long-term detention together while they await a court hearing or splitting up, an idea known as "binary choice."

 

The administration may also move to detain migrant children for longer than the 20 day maximum set by a court ruling, in order to set in motion a legal challenge that could overturn that limit, the official said.

 

The official said DHS has been too slow in drafting new rules that would tighten immigration.

 

The official singled out U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, saying it had not moved quickly enough to tighten H-1B visas for skilled workers and has granted an "astronomical" number of asylum claims.

 

Asylum officers at the agency found that applicants had a "credible fear" of persecution in their home countries in 78 percent of the cases they decided between October and February, according to USCIS data.

 

The White House could anger allies in Congress if it fires USCIS head Cissna, who has previously worked with Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said on Twitter that Cissna was "doing what voters asked4 w PresTrump election."

 

Any move to fire Cissna or other DHS leaders would likely complicate the department's leadership woes.

 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan is due to take Nielsen's place on a temporary basis, starting on Wednesday. That will leave a vacancy atop DHS on the front lines of the border crisis and could also force the departure of the No. 2 Grady, who is legally supposed to fill Nielsen's shoes.

 

Trump has interviewed several candidates for the top job over the past week and a half, including former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, and former acting Immigrations and Customs Enforcement head Thomas Homan.

 

All three have expressed hard-line views on illegal immigration, and could have difficulty winning confirmation in the U.S. Senate, which Trump's Republicans control by a 53-47 margin.

 

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Congress needed to set aside its differences to overhaul immigration laws, which it has repeatedly failed to do over the past 15 years.

 

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan and Roberta Rampton; additional reporting by Makini Brice, Jeff Mason, Yeganeh Torbati, Susan Cornwell and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-04-10

[Tug]

They are eating their owne lol 

[Lungstib]

Cant be easy to find people willing to go out on a limb and break the law on your behalf.

[ezzra]

What in trying to protect your borders from riff raffs and criminal elements is so hard to accept? and why Trump break the law and not those hoard of illegal border runners aided by a neighbouring country who are cynically using children and the elderly to gain entry into a country because they just want to live it easy and bountiful of government helps and freebees ?...

Edited April 10, 2019 by ezzra

[Lungstib]

4 hours ago, ezzra said:

What in trying to protect your borders from riff raffs and criminal elements is so hard to accept? and why Trump break the law and not those hoard of illegal border runners aided by a neighbouring country and who just want to live in the US because it easy and bountiful?...

I suppose it has to do with the fact you signed an international agreement.

The controlling international convention on refugee law is the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention). The 1951 Convention establishes the definition of a refugee as well as the principle of non-refoulement and the rights afforded to those granted refugee status. 

[Tug]

33 minutes ago, ezzra said:

What in trying to protect your borders from riff raffs and criminal elements is so hard to accept? and why Trump break the law and not those hoard of illegal border runners aided by a neighbouring country who are cynically using children and the elderly to gain entry into a country because they just want to live it easy and bountiful of government helps and freebees ?...

Sir the asylum seekers are not breaking us law so unlawful hoards is untrue it’s donalds unwillingness to work within the system that is creating the problem

[attrayant]

There is suppose to be some kind of "crisis" or "national emergency" at the border with respect to immigrants.  So what do they do?  Lop off the heads of the relevant agencies and staff critical positions with temps.  Yeah, that oughtta do it.

 

 

Edited April 10, 2019 by attrayant

[Boon Mee]

Trump is just continuing to drain the swamp of Bush and Obama holdover. 

New Sheriff in town. 

[alanrchase]

11 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Trump is just continuing to drain the swamp of Bush and Obama holdover. 

New Sheriff in town. 

So you agree that Donald has created a swamp? The people going were appointed by him.

[bristolboy]

10 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Trump is just continuing to drain the swamp of Bush and Obama holdover. 

New Sheriff in town. 

Kirstjen Nielsen was appointed by Obama? That's news.

And the new sheriff is doing one helluva job installing new people who share his point of view. I mean, he's only had more than 2 years:

"Several top DHS jobs are either vacant or filled on an acting basis, including positions responsible for disaster response, immigration enforcement, finance, policy, and science and technology."

[Paul Henry]

They ( the courts) never vote in our favour says Trump!  They rule on whats legal and not legal. Not on which party or person puts up an illegal solution and thinks he or they are GOD almighty 

[ballpoint]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

What in trying to protect your borders from riff raffs and criminal elements is so hard to accept? and why Trump break the law and not those hoard of illegal border runners aided by a neighbouring country who are cynically using children and the elderly to gain entry into a country because they just want to live it easy and bountiful of government helps and freebees ?...

Why does Trump break the law?  Why does the scorpion sting the frog?  It's the nature of the beast.

[Emdog]

Trump fires officials like Stalin executed generals... then wonders why he can't win....

[soalbundy]

1 hour ago, Boon Mee said:

Trump is just continuing to drain the swamp of Bush and Obama holdover. 

New Sheriff in town. 

The geriatric is losing the plot, "trade wars are good and are easy to win" hows that working out Don? None of the border towns in the US agree with losing millions of dollars in trade. He sems intent on raising the old reputation of 'the ugly American' again, way to go to generate soft power, the Chinese are gaining on you.

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Trump is just continuing to drain the swamp of Bush and Obama holdover. 

New Sheriff in town. 

So hiring and firing his own people is draining the swamp ????

Edited April 10, 2019 by stevenl

[thaibeachlovers]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

All three have expressed hard-line views on illegal immigration, and could have difficulty winning confirmation in the U.S. Senate, which Trump's Republicans control by a 53-47 margin.

could have difficulty winning confirmation in the U.S. Senate,

Says it all.

What's left, other than shutting the border indefinitely? I think he'll do it, and wish a plague on congress.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, Paul Henry said:

They ( the courts) never vote in our favour says Trump!  They rule on whats legal and not legal. Not on which party or person puts up an illegal solution and thinks he or they are GOD almighty 

Is the SCOTUS supporting illegality then, when they over rule lower courts to allow Trump's regulations?

[Srikcir]

2 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

New Sheriff in town. 

And Trump fired him too (Attorney General Sessions)!

[metisdead]

A troll post in which Trump's name had been altered in a trolling manner has been removed. 

[ballpoint]

2 hours ago, alanrchase said:

So you agree that Donald has created a swamp? The people going were appointed by him.

A year old, but still perfectly valid:

 

"It is hardly a coincidence that so many greedy people have filled the administration’s ranks. Trump’s ostentatious crudeness and misogyny are a kind of human-resources strategy...  ...Trump is legitimately excellent at cultivating an inner circle unburdened by legal or moral scruples. These are the only kind of people who want to work for Trump, and the only kind Trump wants to work for him".

 

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/04/corruption-is-trumps-greatest-political-liability.html

[thaibeachlovers]

29 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

And Trump fired him too (Attorney General Sessions)!

About 2 years too late. If ever a man deserved the boot, it was that man.

[Berkshire]

9 hours ago, Lungstib said:

Cant be easy to find people willing to go out on a limb and break the law on your behalf.

That's pretty much it.  Word in Trumpland is that Trump is failing miserably on his number one campaign issue--immigration.  Record numbers pouring in.  Trump is becoming completely unhinged and desperate to find a solution...or at least demonstrate that he's doing "something."  Can't wait to see what happens to the next guy that fails to follow Trump's illegal order.

 

[CNN reported two sources said the president privately told border agents to deny asylum seekers entry to the US.]

[They said he encouraged them to tell judges who objected to the idea that the US had no room for migrants, but that after Mr Trump departed, the border agents looked to their superiors for guidance.]

[Officials told the agents to follow the law, adding that they were not being told to deny migrants entry and that if they did so, they would bear personal legal liability.]

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-told-border-agents-break-084555838.html?.tsrc=jtc_news_index

 

So what these senior immigration officials are telling border agents is "If you listen to Trump, you may end up in jail."  Can't make this stuff up.

 

Edited April 10, 2019 by Berkshire

[earlinclaifornia]

4 hours ago, ballpoint said:

A year old, but still perfectly valid:

 

"It is hardly a coincidence that so many greedy people have filled the administration’s ranks. Trump’s ostentatious crudeness and misogyny are a kind of human-resources strategy...  ...Trump is legitimately excellent at cultivating an inner circle unburdened by legal or moral scruples. These are the only kind of people who want to work for Trump, and the only kind Trump wants to work for him".

 

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/04/corruption-is-trumps-greatest-political-liability.html

Starting to realize that those are the real reason the were so easilyfallen for the con

[Tug]

Who is minding the store now that Donald got rid of the cops?

[bristolboy]

8 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

About 2 years too late. If ever a man deserved the boot, it was that man.

Imagine him not understanding that his foremost responsibility was to protect the President.

[bristolboy]

Trump is booting out anyone who tells him his immigration ideas are illegal. Experts are worried about what will happen next.

• President Donald Trump has enacted a sweeping purge of his top officials at the Department of Homeland Security as the number of migrants crossing the border has surged.
• The staffing shakeup comes amid news reports that Trump had urged his officials to implement policies that would violate US law or run afoul of court orders, such as making migrants request asylum in their home countries or separating families again.
• Experts say whoever replaces DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen will likely face pressure to enact those policies, and that the court system will ultimately strike them down.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-dhs-purge-what-happens-next-2019-4

[bristolboy]

Apparently, Trump has chosen Kevin McAleenan to replace Kirstjen Nielsen. Which is rich because McAleenan strongly supports aid to the Central American nations. This is the aid the Trump just slashed.  As you may recall, Trump appointed Jerome Powell to be head of the Fed. Powell's views were always clear. At least clear to everyone but the Presidential ignoramus who now rages about the actions of his appointee.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 2:32 AM, bristolboy said:

Imagine him not understanding that his foremost responsibility was to protect the President.

No, his responsibility was to do his job, not opt out of doing it. Soon as he said he was going to recuse himself he should have been sacked.

Edited April 12, 2019 by thaibeachlovers