Grassley warns White House not to oust any more top immigration officials

By Seung Min Kim April 8 at 8:16 PM

The most senior Senate Republican is warning the White House not to oust another top immigration official, making appeals to the administration against dismissing Lee Francis Cissna, the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, amid a purge of Homeland Security leaders.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said he was “very, very concerned” regarding reports that Cissna could be next in a series of rapid-fire DHS dismissals that began late last week when the White House suddenly pulled the nomination of Ronald Vitiello, who had been tapped as director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“One, those are good public servants,” Grassley said Monday evening, after rumors of Cissna’s potential exit percolated all day. “Secondly, besides the personal connection I have with them and the qualifications they have, they are the intellectual basis for what the president wants to accomplish in immigration.”

Kirstjen Nielsen, the Homeland Security secretary, submitted her resignation after meeting privately with Trump on Sunday, and the White House announced Monday that Randolph “Tex” Alles, the director of Secret Service, would be leaving his position “shortly.” Cissna and DHS’s general counsel, John Mitnick, could be the next to go, according to department officials.

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