#mcaleenan

Yet another moderate departs the Trump administration, ostensibly because “McAleenan wanted to spend more time with his family.”

*squeak*squeak*squeak*

Earlier this month, when Trump was declaring that he would completely seal off our southern border with Mexico, then-DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen declined, telling him it was illegal. (She resigned two days later, as this was “one of a number of instances in which Ms. Nielsen believed she was being asked to engage in conduct that violated laws.”)

Trump--displeased to be thwarted by something as inconsequential as the law he took an oath to uphold--went behind Nielsen’s back to a fellow named Kevin McAleenan, who at the time was the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. Trump told him to disregard Nielsen and close the border anyway. Trump also told McAleenan not to worry about violating the law or prior court orders, promising that “he [Trump] would pardon him [McAleenan] if he encountered any legal problems as a result of taking the action.”

The Trump administration now claims Trump never “indicated, asked, directed or pressured” McAleenan to do anything illegal. They say Trump was just joking! Yes, again! Boy, what a crack-up that guy is!

Trump's Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan surprises surprisingly

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Saturday, 12/10/2019 05:57 clock

Acting US Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan leaves office unexpectedly. President Donald Trump justified the departure McAleenans on Friday evening (local time) on Twitter with the fact that it draws the 48-year-old after many years in government offices in the private sector and he wants to…

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/acting-homeland-security-secretary-kevin-mcaleenan-leaving-administration/

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan leaving administration

McAleenan’s departure comes amid a rolling leadership shake-up at the department. Six other top department officials have resigned or been pushed out since April, including former Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

McAleenan — who held the role after Nielsen’s departure — oversaw a recent reduction in the number of migrants caught at the southwest border, a measure used to estimate illegal crossings. Still, he faced criticism from Trump allies inside and outside the administration, who argued he was not sufficiently committed to the president’s immigration agenda.

The move comes as Trump gears up for his 2020 reelection campaign. Trump has signaled that immigration will be a central focus of his appeal to voters and has taken a number of steps in recent months to limit access to asylum and intensify enforcement within the U.S.

The administration in July issued a bar on asylum seekers who pass through another country en route to the U.S., a restriction aimed at blocking Central American migrants traveling north. Last month, the Supreme Court allowed the policy to be implemented pending the outcome of a court challenge.

The administration also has forced more than 48,000 non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait in Mexico pending the outcome of their U.S. cases under a policy known as the Migrant Protection Protocols. While the Trump administration credits the “remain in Mexico” expansion for helping diminish the flow at the border, advocates contend it strands vulnerable migrants in dangerous border towns.

With McAleenan’s exit, Trump will have cycled through four DHS chiefs in less than three years. Many of the department‘s senior leadership positions remain vacant or filled by acting officials.

David Pekoske, administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, is currently serving as acting DHS deputy secretary, and is next line to become acting secretary. But acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ken Cuccinelli is rumored to be a possible McAleenan successor. Another frequently mentioned candidate is Mark Morgan, the acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection.

McAleenan conceded in an Oct. 1 Washington Post article that he didn’t have authority to rein in the two immigration officials, both of whom are vocal Trump boosters and frequent guests on cable television.

“What I don’t have control over is the tone, the message, the public face and approach of the department in an increasingly polarized time,” McAleeanan said. “That’s uncomfortable, as the accountable, senior figure.”

Border arrests soared earlier this year to levels not seen in a decade, a phenomenon that stretched federal resources. The Trump administration, with McAleeanan at the forefront, argued to members of Congress that the migrant flow had caused a humanitarian crisis at the border that required additional funding.

Democrats criticized the administration’s approach to enforcement and blasted reports of dangerous and overcrowded conditions for migrant children and adults held in border processing centers. Still, the Democrat-led House joined the Republican-led Senate to pass a $4.6 billion emergency border spending package in June.

McAleenan, a top border official under former President Barack Obama, became acting commissioner of CBP during the start of the Trump administration and was confirmed to the role in March 2018. From that perch, he saw border arrests bottom out at the start of Trump’s tenure — what some called “the Trump effect” — only to rebound and surge again this year.

Border Patrol arrested nearly 133,000 migrants at the southwest border in May, the biggest monthly total since March 2006. With migrants flooding in, Trump threatened to hammer Mexico with tariffs unless it increased efforts to stem the flow. Mexico agreed in June to deploy 6,000 members of its newly formed National Guard to intercept migrants heading north. At the same time, the U.S. moved to expand its “remain in Mexico“ program border-wide.

Border arrests dropped to roughly 51,000 in August, a major decrease that experts partly attributed to the new enforcement measures.

While Secretary of State Mike Pompeo negotiated the Mexico deal, McAleenan oversaw the department’s implementation of the asylum clampdown and other counter-migration measures.

Following the Mexico agreement, McAleenan joined Trump in July to announce an asylum deal with Guatemala that would require that country to accept asylum seekers who passed through its territory while traveling to the U.S. He struck similar agreements with El Salvador and Honduras in September, although none of the three pacts have been implemented.

Pro-migrant advocates and Democrats blasted the agreements, which they argued would send asylum seekers to some of the most dangerous countries in the hemisphere.

McAleenan faced partisan pressure when ProPublica in July uncovered a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents. Members of the group mocked the death of a detained teenage migrant and posted obscene illustrations of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), among other offensive comments and images.

Although McAleenan swiftly condemned the posts, POLITICO later reported that CBP officials had been aware of the group for up to three years.