President Trump revealed in a tweet Sunday that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Kevin McAleenan will become the acting head of Homeland Security, the sprawling department of 240,000 people, following the resignation of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
McAleenan is a longtime border officer, reflecting Trump’s priority for the department initially founded to combat terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks. Fox News is told Trump wanted the “toughest cop” around on border security, and McAleenan fit the bill.
“That breaking point has arrived this week at our border,” McAleenan said along the border. “CBP is facing an unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis all along our Southwest border, and nowhere has that crisis manifested more acutely than here in El Paso.”
Prior to government service, according to his bio, McAleenan practiced law in California. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College. – READ MORE