The Trump administration is preparing to dismiss hundreds of high -level employees of the Department of Internal Security this week as part of a decision to rid the third agency of people of the country deemed ill -aligned on the objectives of the administration , according to three sources familiar with matter.
The sources said that the Trump administration had a “centralized plan” and a list of people in high -level positions in each DHS component which is to be targeted this week.
The layoffs go on hundreds of more general cuts that started through the DHS on Friday evening, which targeted the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Citizenship and Immigration Services in the United States and the Safety Agency cybersecurity and infrastructure. These layoffs were the last in an effort on the level of the government to reduce the federal workforce.
This week, the three sources declared to NBC News, career employees at high management levels, namely the higher executive service and the general employees of Annex 15, can be removed from DHS agencies – not for Reduce the size of the workforce, but to withdraw employees that the administration considers that potentially the objectives of the Trump administration for the agency.
The DHS, which includes customs and border protection and immigration and customs application, is the main agency responsible for enforcing the US immigration law. Trump strongly relied on CBP to secure the southwest border and ice to accelerate the arrests and deportations of undocumented immigrants living in the United States.
Employees at these high levels “are career people who have an influence on policy and strategy in these positions,” said a former senior Biden administration, responding to the news of the plan.
A Trump administration official defended the plan. When asked if the reduction in posts would make DHS more difficult for the Immigration Goals of Trump, the administration manager said that the administration deletes people who, according to them, “s ‘Voluntarily stop things. ”
“These people put themselves in a terrible position and must be deleted,” said the Trump administration manager.
In a press release, a DHS spokesperson said: “Under the direction of President Trump, we make radical cuts and reform through the federal government to eliminate waste and the flagrant incompetence that has occurred for decades to the detriment of the American taxpayer. ”
Yamiche Alcindor contributed.
