Kelly tried to pressure DHS chief to expel Hondurans, officials say

WASHINGTON — On Monday, as the Department of Homeland Security prepared to extend the residency permits of tens of thousands of Honduran immigrants living in the United States, White House chief of staff John Kelly called Acting Secretary Elaine Duke to pressure her to expel them, according to current and former administration officials.

Duke refused to reverse her decision and was angered by what she felt was a politically driven intrusion by Kelly and Tom Bossert, the White House homeland security adviser, who also called her about the matter, according to officials with knowledge of Monday’s events, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

“As with many issues, there were a variety of views inside the administration on a policy. The Acting Secretary took those views and advice [on] the path forward for TPS and made her decision based on the law,” said Jonathan Hoffman, the Homeland Security spokesman, referring to a form of provisional residency called Temporary Protected Status. He added that it was also “perfectly normal for them to discuss the issue before she had reached a decision.”

By extending the residency permits of the Hondurans, Kelly told her that the Temporary Protected Status decision “keeps getting kicked down the road” and that the additional delay “prevents our wider strategic goal” on immigration, a White House official said.

Duke, who was confirmed by the Senate in April, has informed Kelly she plans to resign, said the officials. Hoffman said there is “zero factual basis” to the claim that Duke has said she’ll step down.

Homeland Security had until the end of the day Monday to announce its plans for some 57,000 Hondurans and 2,500 Nicaraguans who were allowed to remain in the United States with Temporary Protected Status after Hurricane Mitch hit Central America in 1998.

Another 50,000 Haitians and 200,000 Salvadorans were nervously awaiting the decision, as their residency permits will expire early next year. Trump administration officials have repeatedly cited the Temporary Protected Status program as an example of what they say is U.S. immigration policy gone awry, because a program designed to be temporary should not be used to grant longterm residency in the United States.

Duke had decided to end the Temporary Protected Status designation for the Nicaraguans, giving them until January 2019 to leave the United States or change their immigration status. But Duke felt she did not have enough information for the much larger group of Honduran immigrants, so she deferred, granting them a six-month extension, administration officials said Monday when they announced the Temporary Protected Status decision.

As Homeland Security officials prepared to make that announcement, Kelly made an urgent call from Japan, where he was traveling with President Donald Trump. He was “irritated,” administration officials said, but Duke held her ground, an official said. “She was angry. To get a call like that from Asia, after she’d already made the decision, was a slap in the face.”

The pressure from the White House ended up delaying Monday’s announcement, which Homeland Security officials did not make until a 6 p.m. MST conference call with reporters, just hours before the deadline, as tens of thousands of immigrants and their families remained in suspense.