Posted on April 8, 2019

Nielsen’s Exit Comes As Trump Eyes “Tougher” Approach on Immigration

Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News, April 7, 2019

Kirstjen Nielsen’s abrupt departure as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) comes as President Trump seeks to steer his administration towards a “tougher” approach on immigration to confront a surge in migrant families heading to the U.S.

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A protégé of former White House chief of staff John Kelly, Nielsen had reportedly fallen out of favor in recent months with the president, who has been frustrated with an unprecedented flow of Central American families reaching the U.S.-Mexico border.

During Nielsen’s tenure, apprehensions of migrant families between ports of entry along the southern border have steadily increased since the summer of 2018 and have reached record highs in recent months, according to government figures. Immigration authorities apprehended about 36,000 families along the southwestern border in February, making it the busiest February for border officials in the last 12 years.

The surge has incensed Mr. Trump and one his most trusted aides, White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, a notorious immigration hardliner. The president recently vowed to cut all U.S. foreign aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador and has repeatedly threatened to close ports of entry to and from Mexico if the country’s government does not do more to prevent migrants from the Northern Triangle from reaching the southern border.

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Nielsen has not been the only casualty of the administration’s new strategy. On Friday, the White House announced it was withdrawing the nomination of Ronald Vitiello to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Asked why he made the decision, which shocked Senate Republicans who were confident Vitiello would be confirmed, Mr. Trump said his administration was taking a “tougher” direction as it pertains to immigration.

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The administration was forced to rescind the practice after massive public uproar, but Nielsen always maintained she did not oversee a family separation policy, but rather one of increased prosecution of migrant parents crossing the border illegally.

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