For all of Trump’s insistence that he’s the one running things and that every policy is his creation, Stephen Miller is the unofficial head of Trump’s immigration policy enforcement. That was proven again this week when L. Francis Cissna, the head of United States Customs and Immigration Services, was forced to resign after Miller pushed the issue for several months.
Trump is replacing Cissna, the senate-confirmed USCIS director and immigration expert, with Cuccinnelli, a conservative activist and TV personality so disliked by McConnell that he may not get a vote. Scoop with @jdawsey1 @mariasacchetti https://t.co/i8kwz1qqFK
— Nick Miroff (@NickMiroff) May 24, 2019
The news comes amidst a shakeup in the U.S. departments in charge of immigration policies, the first casualty of which was Homeland Security Director Kirsten Nielson. Like Nielson, Cissna was in office throughout some of the more cruel and contentious times in Trump’s presidency around immigration, including the migrant “caravan” disaster and the family separation policy.
NBC News reports that:
‘L. Francis Cissna has served as President Trump’s only director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security. He oversaw the agency during the final iteration of the travel ban, attempts to repeal status for “Dreamers” and the administration’s repeated attempts to limit the ability for undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border from Central America to claim asylum.’
US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director L. Francis Cissna is leaving the agency in the wake of a major shakeup in the last month among the leadership at the Department of Homeland Security, according to an email sent to agency employees https://t.co/1V4ksWlswd
— CNN (@CNN) May 24, 2019
Miller has pushed for the resignations of both Cissna and Nielson, preferring more hardline immigration advocates to sit in those positions. Apparently, he’s getting his way in his push to reform the U.S. immigration system.
‘Since the abrupt firing of former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in April, Cissna’s departure has been rumored to follow. The White House, at the direction of senior adviser Stephen Miller, has been eliminating staff who are seen as out of step with more hardline policies.’
CISSNA, a target of Miller, is out, using CUCINELLI as the weapon of choice, confirming wapo report. But Trumpland knows Cucinelli isn’t senste-confirmable, which is why he was supposed to take czar/coordination role. https://t.co/TyN0bWdmEq
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 25, 2019
It’s not just undocumented immigration that Miller is opposed to, either. Even legal immigrants working on green card status, no matter how much time or money they’ve invested in the process, may be denied that status if they fall on hard times and are forced to rely on public welfare services during their application process.
‘USCIS is now on the verge of finalizing a rule to restrict legal immigrants who use public benefits from receiving green cards, or legal permanent residency.
‘Since the abrupt firing of former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in April, Cissna’s departure has been rumored to follow. The White House, at the direction of senior adviser Stephen Miller, has been eliminating staff who are seen as out of step with more hardline policies.’
Cissna, who drove USCIS against American immigration principles is asked to resign and he will be out by June 1. https://t.co/psgt4Kn3ag
— IamWhatIam (@legalimmi999) May 24, 2019
Featured image screenshot via YouTube