The former heads of the Department of Homeland Security were removed last month after they halted a secret White House plan to launch a ‘10-city blitz operation’ that would have included the arrest and swift deportation of thousands of migrant families and children.
Kirstjen Nielsen, the former Homeland Security secretary, and Ronald Vitiello, who was acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), were ousted after they stood in the way of the plan, The Washington Post is reporting on Monday.
The Post cited seven current and former officials with the department.
The officials said that the Trump administration was planning to target the thousands of families who crossed the southern border from Mexico after President Trump walked back the ‘zero tolerance’ family separation policy last year.
Kirstjen Nielsen (right), former Homeland Security secretary, and Ronald Vitiello (right), former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), were fired after 'resisting a secret White House plan to swiftly arrest and deport thousands of migrant families'
The Trump administration separated children from parents at the southern border last summer, a move that prompted mass outrage and criticism that the U.S. was abandoning its humanitarian role and harming children.
Immigration experts say the separations, which were halted last June, did little to stop migrant crossings and, in fact, may have prompted more people to come.
The number of border crossings has risen dramatically in the past few months to more than 100,000 per month.
More than half are families who cannot be easily sent back to their home countries.
Border officials say they are out of resources and manpower and can't keep up.
The plan was meant to ‘send a message’ to migrants that the government would move quickly to detain and deport recent arrivals, even if those included families with children.
The purported plan called for fast-tracking immigration court cases, the swift issuance of deportation orders against those who did not show for their hearings, and coordinate arrest raids against parents with children in their homes and neighborhoods.
But the plan was never carried out because Nielsen and Vitiello did not believe it was well prepared.
The Post reported that they also were fearful of the negative public reaction as well as the resources that would be diverted from the border.
Cuban migrants are seen above crossing the U.S.-Mexico border from Mexico on April 29. They are seeking asylum in the U.S. The Trump administration has considered ways to reduce the number of migrants crossing into the U.S.
Stephen Miller, Trump’s top adviser on immigration issues, and ICE
