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| Kirstjen Nielsen announces that she is leaving her position as Homeland Security secretary |
VietPress USA (April 7, 2019): Today on Sunday, April 7th, 2019, Kirstjen Nielsen announces that she is leaving her position as Homeland Security secretary as President Donald Trump intensifies his focus on the nation’s border with Mexico.
Trump said on Sunday that she is leaving her position and thanked Nielsen for her service. Kevin McAleenan, the current Customs and Border Protection commissioner, will serve as acting Homeland Security secretary.
Although she was originally set to vacate the position immediately, Nielsen later said in a Twitter post that she had agree to stay on through Wednesday, April 10 “to assist with an orderly transition and ensure that key DHS missions are not impacted.”
Read full report from Yahoo News at:
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Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen steps down
As the Trump administration wrestles with what it calls a “crisis” of immigration from Central America, Kirstjen Nielsen resigned Sunday as head of the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the agencies charged with enforcing the nation’s border and immigration laws.
President Trump announced the move on Twitter.
“I would like to thank her for her service,” Trump tweeted, adding that current Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, Kevin McAleenan, would step in as acting DHS Secretary.
....I am pleased to announce that Kevin McAleenan, the current U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, will become Acting Secretary for @DHSgov. I have confidence that Kevin will do a great job!
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Nielsen later posted a copy of her resignation to Twitter.
This afternoon I submitted my resignation to @POTUS and thanked him for the opportunity to serve in his administration.
Its been an honor of a lifetime to serve with the brave men and women of @DHSgov. I could not be prouder of and more humbled by their service, dedication, and commitment to keep our country safe from all threats and hazards. pic.twitter.com/lIQ5iqGDmF
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Nielsen’s departure comes amid heightened claims from the Trump administration of a crisis at the southwest border. On Friday, Trump abruptly pulled his nomination for the head of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, or ICE, stating his desire to go “in a tougher direction.”
During her tumultuous tenure with the Trump Administration, Nielsen, who previously served as chief of staff to former DHS Secretary John Kelly, faced criticism from both current and former DHS officials as well as White House aides and, ultimately, the President.
Nielsen initially followed Kelly to the White House when he took over as chief of staff in September of 2017, but she reportedly clashed with West Wing aides. Despite concerns over her lack of experience, Trump nominated Nielsen in October 2017 to replace Kelly in the cabinet and she was easily confirmed in December. She is the sixth head of Homeland Security since it was established in 2002.
For months, Trump has reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with Nielsen’s performance on the border. Kevin Landy, led ICE’s Office of Detention Policy and Planning under the Obama Administration, told Yahoo News that ongoing clashes between the president and DHS secretary seemed to stem from the fact that “she couldn’t solve what he considers a border crisis by changing the law unilaterally or miraculously generating resources that Congress hasn't funded.”
“The same legal and funding constraints facing DHS now are going to continue to face DHS whoever the new secretary is,” said Landy. “Trump seems to be on the edge of insanity when it comes to the border influx, and he seems incapable of dealing with the reality that there are no easy solutions.”
“In a normal administration, there isn’t a chance in hell she would get nominated for anything above an undersecretary job,” one former national security official who, like Nielsen, served under President George W. Bush, told The New Yorker in March.
In her five years with the Bush administration, Nielsen primarily oversaw the White House’s domestic disaster relief and prevention policy. She was named in two Congressional reports as one of the officials who failed to inform the White House of the severity of the situation in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. After the fallout from Katrina in 2008, Nielsen left for the private sector, where she re-branded herself as a cybersecurity expert.
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