The White House fired John Mitnick, the General Counsel for the DHS, on Tuesday. Mr. Mitnick’s responsibilities included overseeing the 2,500 agency lawyers and pushing back on policies that would be legally risky for the DHS. As many of Mitnick’s coworkers were ousted, it was not a surprise to see his departure. One example of this was when he pushed against a proposed Trump policy to release asylum seekers into sanctuary cities instead of Mexico. There are conflicting reports as to whether it was the White House that pushed for his firing. There was also some confusion as to who would take over his position. First, a Trump administration official said it would be associate counsel to the president Chad Mizelle. Later, a DHS official clarified that Joseph B. Maher, a principal deputy general counsel for the DHS, would take over for Mitnick.
– Weekly Immigration Briefing by Olivia Hester, Immigration Law Analyst at Docketwise
Posted in: Immigration
posted on: September 23, 2019