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The U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem would be blaming her subordinates for the rates of migrant arrests and undermining her relationships with Trump.
According to NBC, two DHS officials with direct knowledge of the matter stated that Noem and her right-hand man, Corey Lewandowski, blame the failure to meet quotas on the acting ICE director, Todd Lyons, and the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commissioner, Rodney Scott.
However, recently, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson praised Noem's work.
"The entire immigration team of President Trump agrees on the implementation of the president's agenda, and the results speak for themselves: the border is secure and deportations continue to rise," he said.
Lyons would have responded to the accusations by blaming Lewandowski for any decisions related to the detention centers, rejecting any implication that it was his fault there was no more space to detain immigrants.
Scott, for his part, would have been excluded from discussions regarding CBP operations in major cities across the United States, as well as from social meetings attended by other senior DHS officials, NBC reports, stating that his superiors at DHS have warned him that he could soon be out of a job
ICE is reportedly arresting an average of fewer than 1,000 people per day, a figure well below the daily target of 3,000 individuals set in May by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, the information specifies.
This Friday, Noem stated that "under President Trump's leadership" the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is dismantling transnational organized crime, halting the influx of deadly drugs and curbing illegal immigration, restoring "sanity" to the immigration system, and safeguarding the critical infrastructure of the United States against cyberattacks.
"The American people trust that the DHS will always remain vigilant, agile, and responsive. We will never yield, we will never falter, and we will never retreat," he added.
A second tweet accompanied his message, this time expressing gratitude for having appeared before the House Committee on Homeland Security.
"DHS will continue to fulfill President Trump's promise to make America safe again," she emphasized.
Noem's posts come after a particularly tense hearing in Congress, where the official appeared before a subcommittee to discuss global threats to national security.
During her speech, she ignited the immigration debate by stating that the agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol "are doing God's work", a statement publicly celebrated by ICE.
Noem struck back at those who criticize deportations and immigration control operations, accusing them of "defending individuals who violate the law" and putting agents at risk.
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