Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Neilsen’s run was filled with consistent rumors that she would resign. The rumors eventually came true and Nielsen tendered her resignation to the President in April of 2019. Followin Neilsen’s departure, Trump installed Kevin McAleenan in the hopes that he would be more amenable to his ideas.
Some of the most powerful people in the White House Administration care deeply about installing extreme immigration policy. Those voices, including that of Stephen Miller, are reportedly now trying to force McAleenan to resign.
Many in the White House feel that McAleenan is not effectively enforcing immigration law. An official told Politico, “The two issues the president is driving the train on at all times are trade and immigration. There is disbelief inside the administration that we can’t enforce the law and people are trying to find the right personnel who will do it and not look for ways out of it.”
Tom Homan, a former Head of ICE, even suggested that McAleenan had been leaking information to the press. He told Fox News, ““In The Washington Post or in numerous media outlets, he does not support this operation, and I tell you what, if that’s his position, then he’s on the wrong side of this issue. You don’t tell the men and women of ICE, a day before they go out there and do this operation — ‘Look, this story was leaked.’ They gave the locations of the cities, the day it was supposed to start, how many targets.”
John Sanders, a top ally to McAleenan and the Head of Customs and Border Protections resigned from his post earlier this week.