The New York Times: Kirstjen Nielsen Enforced Cruelty at the Border. Her Replacement Could Be Worse.

 Kirstjen Nielsen and the President

Update below: On the new acting Homeland Security secretary.

The House Speaker and The New York Times editorial board get this right:

Ms. Nielsen’s departure is seen by some as part of a broader restructuring of her department. Just two days before meeting with the secretary, the president withdrew his nomination for the next head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, saying that he wanted to go in a “tougher direction.” Presumably he plans to chart a similar course with Ms. Nielsen’s successor.

For now, Ms. Nielsen’s acting replacement will be Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. This leaves Homeland Security without a top official at either of its critical immigration agencies. It comes as the swell of migrant families across the border pushes the system toward collapse.

Within this leadership vacuum, it seems likely that more influence will be exerted by Mr. Miller, who inspires and reinforces Mr. Trump’s harshest ideas on immigrants and immigration.

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said of Ms. Nielsen’s departure, “It is deeply alarming that the Trump administration official who put children in cages is reportedly resigning because she is not extreme enough for the White House’s liking.”

-RW

UPDATE

Via Market Watch:

Kevin McAleenan, who President Donald Trump has picked as acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has carried out Trump’s most controversial efforts at the border, USA Today reports.

McAleenan is taking over for Kirstjen Nielsen, whose resignation Trump announced Sunday. He has most recently served as commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. USA Today reports the Customs officers and Border Patrol agents he commands were the ones who separated more than 2,800 migrant children from their families during Trump’s now-blocked “zero tolerance” policy. And his officers were the ones who fired tear gas into a crowd of migrants attempting to approach the San Ysidro Port of Entry in November.