DHS chief No. 4 heads for door
Acting secretary steps down after six months in Cabinet post
WASHINGTON — Kevin Mcaleenan is stepping down from his post as acting Homeland Security secretary after six months on the job, President Donald Trump announced Friday.
Mcaleenan, who had managed a massive border crisis, said he was leaving on his own terms.
Trump said Mcaleenan was leaving to spend more time with his family and go into the private sector.
“We have worked well together with Border Crossings being Way down,” the president tweeted.
No replacement was yet named in the department, which has seen its ranks decimated through firings and resignations. The acting DHS deputy is the head of the Transportation Security Administration.
Although Mcaleenan was not a member of Trump’s inner circle — he is a career civil servant and a Democrat — or a frequent presence on television like others in the department, he was respected by the White House for his efforts, and his departure came as something of a surprise.
It creates yet another top-level vacancy in Trump’s Cabinet, at the department responsible for not only immigration enforcement but also assistance in states’ election security.
Mcaleenan tweeted that he had worked, with the president’s support, to stem the border crisis and that he would help ensure a smooth transition.
“I want to thank the President for the opportunity to serve the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security,” Mcaleenan wrote.
He took over in April after Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen quit; he was the fourth person to lead the department in two years.
Mcaleenan spent a lot of time south of the border, working on brokering major agreements with Central American countries on asylum, including El Salvador.
A program that has turned away some 42,000 migrants to await their asylum claims in Mexico expanded under his watch. And the Trump administration also effectively ended asylum at the southern border, making anyone who crossed through a third country on their way to the U.S. ineligible.