Nielsen meets with Trump at White House with her future at DHS in question
Photo by Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was meeting with President Trump at the White House Sunday evening amid a report that she would offer her resignation.
The meeting was taking place amid an ongoing influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border that has been taxing America's immigration system and sparking frustration within the White House.
A report from CBS News, citing U.S. officials, said Nielsen was expected to resign Sunday. Fox News has not confirmed the report.
On Friday, Trump confirmed he withdrew the nomination of acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Ron Vitiello to become the permanent head of the agency, telling reporters that "Ron’s a good man, but we’re going in a tougher direction, we want to go in a tougher direction."
Nielsen skipped last week's meeting of interior ministers from the Group of Seven in Paris to deal with the migration crisis, which she has compared to the aftermath of a Category 5 hurricane.
She also has taken to social media in recent days, tweeting that Congress must give border and immigration officials the tools and resources needed to "fulfill our humanitarian and security mission."
She visited El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, marking her first stop on a border tour aimed at assessing the surge of migrants and the department's response. "Our system and facilities were never structured to withstand the current influx of immigrants," she said.