(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Kirstjen Nielsen's abrupt ouster as Homeland Security Secretary highlights two things about the current state of Donald Trump's presidency. First, Trump is angry that he isn't making progress on curbing immigration—migrant families are surging to the southern border in record numbers, and there's no wall or prospect of getting one—and knows that his reelection could hinge on turning this around. Second, somebody convinced him Nielsen is to blame.
In Trump's White House, on matters of immigration, often the person stoking the anger and assigning blame is senior adviser Stephen Miller. Bloomberg News reported this morning that Miller, whose power over immigration policy has recently expanded, complained that Nielsen was “too weak.” Now, she's gone.
Nielsen was likely doomed from the start (as her successor might also be) because to Miller, the issue of immigration—and the job of Homeland Security Secretary specifically—is the fulcrum of Trump's entire presidency. “It's all stitched together,” Miller explained to me for a Bloomberg Businessweek cover story soon after Trump took office. “What you do on immigration policy, what you do on education policy, what you do on tax, regulatory, and energy policy all connects together—and will be based on a simple determination about what will make life better in America for American citizens.”
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That meant shutting down immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries by executive order; ending temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants threatened by armed conflict or natural disaster and returning them to their home countries; forcing reluctant foreign countries to take back criminal aliens; cutting H1-B visas and foreign guest worker programs; and drastically increasing the government's ability to process and deport undocumented immigrants by directing resources and administrative judges to the border.
Crucially, Miller argued—and convinced Trump—that passing new legislation wasn't necessary because the Department of Homeland Security already has the power to achieve these goals. “People don't appreciate the extent to which we've set in motion a substantial and long-overdue change to U.S. immigration policy, simply by directing the DHS to use existing laws and authorities,” Miller told me then.
What matters most in restricting immigration, then, according to Miller's and Trump's way of thinking, is the determination of the DHS secretary to simply get it done. Trump's mounting frustration over not getting results on immigration led to Nielsen's exit, as well as his decision last week to withdraw his nominee to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement in favor of someone “tougher.” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed today that Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles, a Nielsen ally, will leave by the end of the month.
By any objective measure, Nielsen went to extraordinary lengths to satisfy Trump's demands. But even though she entered the job with the reputation of being a steely government operator, Nielsen ultimately felt bound by legal and constitutional strictures that prevented her from doing all that Trump wanted, such as ignoring U.S. asylum law.
Nielsen reportedly irritated Trump by telling him some of the things he wanted to do weren't possible. “The secret to Stephen's power is that he always gives him solutions and tells him what he can do—tells him ‘yes,'” says a White House adviser and Miller ally. Miller didn't return a call for comment.
Miller's newly elevated status means he'll have even more power to shape the president's views on immigration and personnel. So Nielsen's successor will be expected to accomplish what she couldn't—or wouldn't. As Fox News host and Trump uber-ally Sean Hannity told me two years ago, “It's an art form, what Steve does for Donald Trump.”
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jillian Goodman at jgoodman74@bloomberg.net
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