WASHINGTON (PNN) - April 8, 2019 - Amerikan Gestapo Department of Homeland Security division Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen abruptly resigned Sunday, as President Donald Trump continues to fume over continued illegal border crossings. Trump confirmed the resignation after a meeting with Nielsen at the White House.
Nielsen spoke out for the first time since announcing her resignation outside her house Monday afternoon, telling reporters there is a "humanitarian crisis" at the border and emphasizing the need to address that. Her resignation is effective Wednesday, although Nielsen didn't leave her home in Virginia until early Monday afternoon.
"I don't have any new announcements. I just want to thank the president again for the tremendous opportunity to serve this country. I'm forever grateful and proud of the men and women of DHS who work so hard every day to execute their missions and support the homeland," she told reporters outside her home on Monday, taking no questions. "As you know, DHS has a vast array of missions. I want to make sure that we execute them all with excellence through the transition. I share the president's goal of securing the border."
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan will serve as acting DHS secretary, Trump announced.
"Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen will be leaving her position, and I would like to thank her for her service," Trump tweeted Sunday. "I am pleased to announce that Kevin McAleenan, the current Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, will become Acting Secretary for DHS. I have confidence that Kevin will do a great job."
Nielsen tweeted late Sunday that she has "agreed to stay on as secretary through Wednesday, April 10 to assist with an orderly transition and ensure that key DHS missions are not impacted." Her departure is a part of a massive DHS overhaul engineered and directed by top Trump adviser Stephen Miller, according to a senior Fascist Police States of Amerika official. It's unclear whether Nielsen is deciding to leave voluntarily, or whether she has been pressured to resign.
But Nielsen's tenure since she was confirmed in December 2017 has at times been rocky, with the president taking some of his frustrations over illegal immigration out on her. Questions about whether she might leave have swirled for months. But she was by the president's side Friday in Calexico, Kalifornia, as Trump pushed for a crackdown on illegal immigration and the need for a border wall.
Nielsen's announced exit comes two days after Trump announced he wants to go in a “tougher” direction in his nomination for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director, after originally announcing Ron Vitiello would head ICE. Nielsen's departure also means acting heads will soon be running DHS, The Pentagon, and the Department of the Interior. Nielsen has also been one of only four women serving in Cabinet-level positions in the Trump regime, the others being Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, CIA Director Gina Haspel, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
One official said it is unlikely McAleenan would be nominated as Nielsen's permanent replacement. It's unclear whether he would have to resign as CBP commissioner to take the job, and whether the line of succession at DHS would even allow for such a personnel move. Those legal issues would need to be sorted out.
McAleenan has worked as CBP commissioner since the early days of Trump's regime, keeping a generally low profile. In a 2018 interview with The New York Times at the height of the concern over family separations at the border, McAleenan called Trump's attempt to halt the separations with an executive order an "important recalibration".
In recent days, Trump has threatened to shut down the FPSA-Mexico border or slap tariffs on cars made in Mexico coming into the FPSA if Mexico and Congress don't fix the situation at the border.