Trump shakes up Homeland Security staff

Frustrated with southern border crossings, US president looking for new leadership

US President Donald Trump continued cleaning house at the Department of Homeland Security on Monday, as he becomes more frustrated over the number of Central American families crossing the southern border and demands a harder line on border security.

On Monday, Trump removed US Secret Service Director Randolph "Tex" Alles, who reported to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who resigned on Sunday. Alles' departure is unrelated to Nielsen's resignation, according to administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the personnel matter, Fox News reported. 

The New York Times on Monday quoted unnamed government officials as saying also expected to leave the Homeland Security department soon are L. Francis Cissna, the head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and John Mitnik, the agency's general counsel.

Trump started shaking up Homeland Security on April 3 when he announced that Ron Vitiello, his nominee for director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), would not be the permanent pick to head ICE. Trump said he would be replaced as acting director with someone who would move ICE in a "tougher" direction.

That same day Trump then inspected a refurbished section of fencing in California at the US-Mexican border and insisted the US immigration system was overburdened and illegal crossings must be stopped. "Our country is full. ... Turn around," he declared. "We can't take you anymore."

The White House declined to comment on Nielsen's resignation, but reports by major US news media all cited anonymous sources as saying she was removed because Trump felt she wasn't tough enough on immigration policy.

The administration has been met with legal restrictions and court rulings that have limited many of its major efforts to remake border security. Arrests along the southern border have skyrocketed. Border agents are on track to make 100,000 arrests and denials of entry at the southern border in March, over half of which are families with children.

Cal Jillson, a political scientist and historian at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, told China Daily that Trump has long been dissatisfied with the inability of Homeland Security led by Nielsen to stem the flow of refugees and asylum seekers across the US border with Mexico.

Jon Taylor, a professor of political science of the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, told China Daily that it appears that Trump decided against keeping Nielsen at Homeland Security because there is still a fight over the border wall with Mexico and a massive surge of immigrants from Central America. 

"Trump is desperate to pursue a hard line on immigration policies and has been quite frustrated with his apparent powerlessness to fulfill his promise to his supporters to close the entire border,'' he said. Trump "needs to look tough on the border and domestic security going into the 2020 election", Taylor added.

Jillson also said that Trump appears to believe that fulfilling his 2016 campaign promise to control the southern border is critical to holding his base in his 2020 re-election bid.

"He may be right about that, but his base may not be enough for re-election, as many Americans will not support harsh measures, particularly separating families, at the border,'' added Jillson.

As for its impact on 2020, Taylor said the turnover rate of Trump appointees — which is the highest of any US president's administration in history — makes Trump and his administration look unstable, incompetent and weak — descriptions that one would assume that Trump would try his best to ignore and avoid if he hopes to win re-election.

In announcing that Secret Service chief Alles was leaving, the White House said in a statement that he "has done a great job at the agency over the last two years, and the president is thankful for his over 40 years of service to the country".

The statement said that Trump has selected James M. Murray, a career member of the Secret Service, to take over as director beginning in May.

Alles was told two weeks ago there would be a transition in leadership, and he was asked to stay on until there was a replacement, according to a source close to the director, CNN reported.

Taylor said removing Alles "was a bit of a surprise and raises questions about why now. While Trump denies that Alles was fired because of security breaches, the timing suggests otherwise.''

Homeland Security is now without a confirmed secretary, Secret Service director, head of ICE, head of science and technology branch, head of policy branch, inspector general, and customs and border protection commissioner.

Nielsen's resignation means that another cabinet officer who reports directly to Trump will have the word "acting" in their title. Interim secretaries are also in place at the Defense and Interior departments, and at the Office of Management and Budget, the Small Business Administration and the ambassador's office at the United Nations. Mulvaney, Trump's chief of staff, is also serving in an acting capacity.

Trump announced on Sunday in a tweet that US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan would be taking over as acting head of the department.

Taylor said that McAleenan's appointment underscores Trump's desire to pursue a hard line on both the issue of US border security and illegal immigration. 

"Many of the changes that Trump wants to implement on immigration and border security, including changing the process for asylum seekers, may likely not be accomplished under current US law,'' he said.

"The question at hand: Will McAleenan be willing to push the envelope on US law to fulfill Trump's demands?" Taylor said. "Some constitutional law scholars have questioned whether Trump's appointment of McAleenan as acting Homeland Security secretary violates federal law."