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Kirstjen Nielsen

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Kirstjen Nielsen
6th United States Secretary of Homeland Security
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 6, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyElaine Duke
Claire Grady (acting)
Preceded byJohn F. Kelly
White House Principal Deputy Chief of Staff
In office
September 6, 2017 – December 6, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
Chief of StaffJohn F. Kelly
Preceded byKatie Walsh
Succeeded byJames W. Carroll
Chief of Staff to the United States Secretary of Homeland Security
In office
January 20, 2017 – July 31, 2017
SecretaryJohn F. Kelly
Preceded byPaul Rosen
Succeeded byChad Wolf (acting)
Personal details
Born
Kirstjen Michele Nielsen

(1972-05-14) 14 May 1972 (age 52)
Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.
EducationGeorgetown University (BS)
University of Virginia (JD)

Kirstjen Michele Nielsen (born May 14, 1972) is an American attorney and national security expert serving as the sixth and current United States Secretary of Homeland Security, since 2017.

Nielsen is a former Principal Deputy White House Chief of Staff to President Donald Trump, and was Chief of Staff to John F. Kelly during his term as Secretary of Homeland Security. She was confirmed on December 5, 2017 as the Secretary of Homeland Security. As Secretary of Homeland Security, Nielsen implemented a policy of separating parents and children who crossed over the U.S. Mexico border illegally.

Early life

Nielsen was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but grew up in Clearwater, Florida.[1] Nielsen was the oldest of three children born to Phyllis Michele Nielsen and James McHenry Nielsen, two Army physicians.[2] Her father is of Danish ancestry and her mother is of Italian descent. She has a sister, Ashley, and a brother, Fletcher, who is a musician. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1999.[3] She also studied Japanese Studies at Nanzan University, in Nagoya, Japan.[4]

Early career

Nielsen served during the George W. Bush administration as Special Assistant to the President and as senior Director for Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPR) at the White House Homeland Security Council. She also set up, and led as Assistant Administrator, the Transportation Security Administration's Office of Legislative Policy and Government Affairs. Before serving in the Trump administration, she was a senior member of the Resilience Task Force of the Center for Cyber & Homeland Security Committee at George Washington University and served on the Global Risks Report Advisory Board of the World Economic Forum.[3]

After leaving the Bush administration in 2008, Nielsen became the founder and President of Sunesis Consulting.[5] The firm's online profile listed her as its only employee, with the firm’s phone number being Nielsen’s personal cellphone.[6] In September 2013 the company won a federal contract, with an initial award of about $450,000, to "provide policy and legislation, technical writing, and organizational development" to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.[7]

Initial positions in the Trump administration

Nielsen served as John F. Kelly's Chief of Staff at the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after he assumed that position in January 2017.[8][9] In early September 2017, just over a month after Kelly became White House Chief of Staff on July 31, 2017, Nielsen moved to the White House, becoming the principal Deputy Chief of Staff under Kelly.[10][11][9]

Secretary of Homeland Security

Kirstjen Nielsen taking the oath of office as the sixth U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security

On October 11, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Nielsen to be the new United States Secretary of Homeland Security, replacing Acting Secretary Elaine Duke.[12][13] On December 5, 2017, the Senate confirmed her nomination, by a 62–37 vote.[14] On December 6, 2017, she was sworn in as Secretary of Homeland Security.[15][16]

Tenure

On January 16, 2018, Nielsen testified before the United States Senate in favor of merit, rather than family, based immigration.[17] She was questioned about an earlier meeting at the White House in which press reports and Senator Dick Durbin related that the President had used the word shithole to describe African countries, as well as disparaging remarks about Haiti.[18][19] Nielsen said "I did not hear that word used, no sir" although she said she heard "tough language" which was impassioned.[19][20][21] During the same hearing, Senator Patrick Leahy asked Secretary Nielsen whether Norway was a predominantly white country. Kirstjen Nielsen appeared to hesitate before answering, "I actually do not know that, sir." She added, "But I imagine that is the case."[22][23][24] Nielsen was criticized by New Jersey Senator Cory Booker for not recalling or speaking out against Trump's disparaging remarks which Booker characterized as bigoted.[20][25] Following the hearing, Nielsen expressed her disappointment in the amount of attention being paid to the White House meeting.[26]

On March 23, 2018, it was reported that Nielsen agreed with the enactment of the Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security Regarding Military Service by Transgender Individuals.[27]

The New York Times reported in May 2018 that Nielsen considered resigning after President Trump berated her in front of the Cabinet for the purported failure to secure U.S. borders.[28] The Times reported that there was tension between Nielsen and Trump after she and other DHS officials resisted Trump's call to separate undocumented immigrant parents from their children while in custody.[28] The Times' reporting was confirmed to Politico and Reuters by a source at the DHS.[29][30] Nielsen denied that she threatened to resign.[29]

Nielsen at a press conference during Super Bowl LII, February 2018

At a May 2018 congressional hearing, Nielsen said that she was unaware of the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 presidential election to help candidate Trump get elected. An assessment by the FBI, CIA and NSA in January 2017 was that the Russian preference was clearly to help Trump win; this assessment was mirrored in a bipartisan report by the Senate Intelligence Committee released days prior to Nielsen's testimony. Nielsen said that she had not seen the intelligence community briefing that Russia had tried to interfere in the 2016 election.[31] Nielsen later, in May 2018 backtracked, saying that she agreed with the intelligence community's assessment.[32]

In July 2018, Nielsen said there were no signs that Russia was targeting the 2018 midterm elections in the same "scale or scope" as it did in 2016.[33]

At the Aspen Security Forum, Aspen, Colorado, during an interview by Peter Alexander of NBC on July 19, 2018, Nielsen stated that Russians had absolutely interfered in the United States Presidential Election in 2016. When Alexander asked if Russians had interfered in favor of Donald Trump, Nielsen responded, “I haven’t seen any evidence that the attempts to interfere in our election infrastructure was to favor a particular political party. I think what we’ve seen on the foreign influence side is they were attempting to intervene and cause chaos on both sides.”[34][35][36] Prior to this on July 16, 2018 at the joint press conference in Helsinki after 2018 Russia-United States Summit, Jeff Mason from Reuters asked President Putin, "Did you want President Trump to win the election and did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?" Putin's blunt response was: "Yes, I wanted him to win. Because he talked about bringing the U.S. Russia relationship back to normal."[37][38]

During the same interview at the Aspen Security Forum when Alexander further asked whether the president has made countering white supremacy a priority, Nielsen replied that he wanted DHS to prevent “any form of violence” threatening Americans. Referring to President Trump's response to clashes between the white supremacists and counter-protesters at Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12, 2017, Alexander asked, "But in the comments that are obviously highly publicized when he [President Trump] placed blame in his words on both side, does that make your job harder when President says things that at least in those communities are viewed as he has got our [white supremacists'] back?" In her response Nielsen did not unequivocally denounce white supremacists. She said, "I think what’s interesting about that is we saw, and I think we continue to learn— maybe there was different, whether it was foreign influence or different purposeful attempts to get both sides, if you will, aggressively pitted against each other." She later added that “it’s not that one side is right, one side is wrong. Anybody that is advocating violence, we need to work to mitigate.”[39][40][41]

Family separation policy

Main article: Trump administration family separation policy

At a congressional hearing on May 15, 2018, Nielson testified that she would enforce the-then newly enacted[42] Trump administration policy of separating parents and children who crossed over the U.S.–Mexico border, noting that similar separations happened in criminal courts "every day."[43]

In June 2018, Nielsen stated that the Trump administration did not maintain a policy of separating migrant families at the Southern border;[44][45][46] The Washington Post fact-checker described Nielsen's claim as "Orwellian."[47] At that point, the Trump administration had in six weeks separated approximately 2,000 migrant children from their parents.[45] Contrary to Nielsen's claims, the DHS website showed that a policy of family separation was in place.[44]

On June 18, 2018, Nielsen defended the policy at a sheriffs' conference but said the administration had asked Congress "to allow us to keep families together while they are detained" as an alternative. "We cannot detain children with their parents so we must either release both the parents and the children — this is the historic 'get out of jail free' practice of the previous administration — or the adult and the minor will be separated as the result of prosecuting the adult. Those are the only two options. Surely it is the beginning of the unraveling of democracy when the body who makes the laws, rather than changing them, asks the body who enforces the laws not to enforce the laws. That cannot be the answer."[48] Three days earlier, the DHS said that it had separated 1,995 immigrant children from 1,940 adults, which it described as "alleged adult parents," at the border between mid-April and the end of May. Because the law forbids children from being kept in criminal detention facilities, they are separated from their parents.[49]

Nielsen held a press briefing with White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders in June 2018 amid growing public outcry about the family separation policy.[50] Nielsen accused the media and member of Congress of mischaracterizing the administration's policy.[50] She dismissed the suggestion that the administration was using family separations as political leverage to force Congress to support Trump's broader immigration agenda or to deter migrants from coming to the United States.[50] In doing so, she contradicted comments made earlier by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Chief of Staff John Kelly and senior adviser Stephen Miller.[50]

On June 20, 2018 after repeatedly arguing that the administration could not sign an Executive Order to end family separations, she was present at Trump's signing of an Executive Order ending his "zero-tolerance" policy of separating of children from families.[51][2] Sources told Politico that Nielsen had privately pushed for this executive order behind the scenes while at the same time saying publicly that the executive order could not be created.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Homeland Security Secretary Nominee Kirstjen Nielsen Testifies Confirmation". C-SPAN.org. Archived from the original on January 12, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b c "'That's Not the Kirstjen We Know'". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Williamson, Eric (October 11, 2017). "Kirstjen Nielsen '99 Tapped for Top Post at Homeland Security". University of Virginia School of Law. Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Kirstjen Nielsen: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  5. ^ Kutner, Max. "Who is Kirstjen Nielsen, Trump's reported pick for Secretary of Homeland Security?". Newsweek.com. Newsweek. Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Dawsey, Josh; Miroff, Nick (May 25, 2018). "The hostile border between Trump and the head of DHS". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  7. ^ "DHS Federal Emergency Management Agency". Archived from the original on October 13, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Kirstjen Nielson". Center for Homeland Security, George Washington University. Archived from the original on September 7, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2017. Kirstjen Nielsen is an expert in homeland and national security policy, strategy, and assessment, with a focus in the areas of critical infrastructure protection, including cyber security, preparedness, response and incident management, information sharing, risk assessment, trend analysis and risk management, organizational development, stakeholder requirement analysis, outreach and communication, and training and exercise programs. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ a b "President Donald J. Trump Announces White House Appointments". The White House. September 6, 2017. Archived from the original on September 8, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2017. Kirstjen M. Nielsen of Florida will serve as Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Chief of Staff. Ms. Nielsen formerly served as Chief of Staff of the Department of Homeland Security. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Maggie Haberman, Glenn Thrush (September 8, 2017). "New White House Chief of Staff Has an Enforcer". New York Times. p. A16. Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Kelly bringing DHS deputy to the White House". Fox News. July 29, 2017. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2017. Kirstjen Nielsen, who has served as chief of staff under Kelly at DHS, will follow her boss to the White House, a Trump administration official told Fox News. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Davis, Julie Hirschfeld (October 11, 2017). "White House Aide Is Selected to Run Homeland Security Department". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Parker, Ashley; Zapotosky, Matt (October 11, 2017). "Trump taps Kirstjen Nielsen to lead Department of Homeland Security". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Miroff, Nick (December 5, 2017). "Senate confirms Kirstjen Nielsen, a top White House aide, to lead Homeland Security". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  15. ^ "Kirstjen M. Nielsen Sworn-in as the Sixth Homeland Security Secretary". Department of Homeland Security. December 6, 2017. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Nixon, Ron (December 5, 2017). "Kirstjen Nielsen, White House Aide, Is Confirmed as Homeland Security Secretary". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "Written Testimony of Kirstjen M. Nielsen, Secretary Department of Homeland Security, for a hearing on "Oversight of the United States Department of Homeland Security" before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 10, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Kopan, Tal; Stracqualursi, Veronica (January 16, 2018). "DHS secretary says Trump used 'tough' language". CNN. Archived from the original on January 18, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ a b Kim, Seung Min (January 16, 2018). "Nielsen testifies: 'I did not hear' Trump say 'shithole': The Homeland Security secretary was peppered with tough questions from senators about the president's immigration remarks". Politico. Archived from the original on January 16, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018. The remarks also dominated Nielsen's appearance […] One Democrat after another pressed Nielsen on Trump's reported comments, and she repeatedly dodged, saying she didn't recall if "shithole" specifically — or other variations, such as "shithouse" — was used. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ a b Ella Nilson, January 16, 2018, VOX, “Your silence and your amnesia is complicity”: Sen. Cory Booker blasts a top White House official for disputing Trump’s “shithole” comments. Archived January 17, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved January 16, 2018, "...."It is deeply troubling that in your opening comments, when you talk about the threats to our nation, our homeland, to national security, that you failed to mention a report that outlined a very specific threat to us..."
  21. ^ O'Keefe, Ed; Miroff, Nick (January 16, 2018). "A burst of acrimony on Capitol Hill threatens immigration deal". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018. Under intense questioning from both Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen confirmed that the president had used "tough language" in the meeting Thursday.
  22. ^ "Trump's homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, claims she doesn't know if Norway is mostly white". Newsweek. January 16, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  23. ^ "Dana Milbank: Kirstjen Nielsen doesn't know that Norwegians are white?". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  24. ^ Chait, Jonathan. "Trump Homeland Security Secretary Not Sure If Most Norwegians Are White". Daily Intelligencer. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  25. ^ Josh Delk, January 16, 2018, The Hill, Booker to Nielsen: 'Your silence and your amnesia is complicity' Archived January 17, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved January 16, 2018
  26. ^ Kopan, Tal; Graef, Aileen (January 17, 2018). "DHS Secretary Nielsen: 'I did not and will not lie under oath'". CNN. Archived from the original on January 18, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ Thomas, Ken (March 23, 2018). "Trump order would ban most transgender troops from serving".
  28. ^ a b "Homeland Security Secretary Was Close to Resigning After Trump Berated Her". The New York Times. May 10, 2018. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  29. ^ a b "Nielsen: 'I didn't threaten to resign'". POLITICO. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  30. ^ Editorial, Reuters. "Homeland Security chief Nielsen was close to resigning: New York Times". U.S. Retrieved May 20, 2018. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  31. ^ "DHS chief hasn't 'seen' intel finding that Russia aimed to help Trump". POLITICO. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  32. ^ "Homeland Security Chief Backtracks After Saying Russia Didn't Try to Help Trump". The New York Times. May 22, 2018. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  33. ^ "US Official: Russia Using Social Media to Divide Americans". NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  34. ^ "Kirstjen Nielsen Again Says She's Seen No Evidence Russia's Meddling Was Aimed at Helping Trump". Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  35. ^ Orme, Wyatt. "Aspen Security Forum: Kirstjen Nielsen". Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  36. ^ "DHS secretary agrees Russia meddled in election, but dodges whether it helped Trump". POLITICO. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  37. ^ "Read the full transcript of the Helsinki press conference". Vox. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  38. ^ "Transcript: Trump And Putin's Joint Press Conference". NPR.org. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  39. ^ "Kirstjen Nielsen blames both sides for deadly Charlottesville violence, claims Russia didn't try to help Trump". Newsweek. July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  40. ^ O'Connor, Lydia (July 19, 2018). "Kirstjen Nielsen Doubles Down On Trump's Infamous 'Both Sides' Comment". Huffington Post. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  41. ^ Schwartz, Rafi. "DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen Just Had a Nightmare of an Interview". Splinter. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  42. ^ CNN, Tal Kopan,. "New DHS policy could separate families caught crossing the border illegally". CNN. Retrieved June 24, 2018. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  43. ^ Kopan, Tal (May 15, 2018). "DHS secretary defends separating families at the border". CNN. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  44. ^ a b Lockie, Alex (June 18, 2018). "Conclusive proof that it is Trump's policy to separate children from their families at the border". Business Insider. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  45. ^ a b Chappell, Bill (June 18, 2018). "'We Do Not Have A Policy' Of Separating Families, DHS Head Says, Contradicting Policy". NPR. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  46. ^ Blake, Aaron (June 18, 2018). "The grim desperation of Kirstjen Nielsen". Washington Post. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  47. ^ Rizzo, Salvador (June 19, 2018). "Analysis | The facts about Trump's policy of separating families at the border". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  48. ^ BBC Newshour, June 18, 2018
  49. ^ Radnofsky, Louise; Andrews, Natalie (June 18, 2018). "Trump Administration Defends Family-Separation Policy". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  50. ^ a b c d Rucker, Philip; Dawsey, Josh; Kim, Seung Min (June 18, 2018). "Trump defiant as crisis grows over family separation at the border". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  51. ^ Long, Jill Colvin and Colleeen. "Trump Signs Order To End His Family Separations Policy". www.opb.org. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kirstjen Nielsen.
Political offices
Preceded by United States Secretary of Homeland Security
2017–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Secretary of Veterans Affairs Order of Precedence of the United States
as Secretary of Homeland Security 		Succeeded byas White House Chief of Staff
U.S. presidential line of succession
Preceded byas Secretary of Veterans Affairs 17th in line
as Secretary of Homeland Security 		Last
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