INTERVENTION

Report: John Kelly Tried to Have Thousands of Hondurans Expelled

As Dept. of Homeland Security was preparing to extend their residency permits.

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly called Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke on Monday to pressure her to expel tens of thousands of Honduran immigrants living in the United States, The Washington Post reported. Duke, who at the time was preparing to extend their residency permits, reportedly refused to reverse her decision. “As with many issues, there were a variety of views inside the administration on a policy. The acting secretary took those views and advice [on] the path forward for [Temporary Protected Status] and made her decision based on the law,” said Jonathan Hoffman, a DHS spokesman. Duke was reportedly angered by what she deemed a politically motivated intrusion, though the White House responded that Kelly’s calls were because of “Duke’s lack of decisiveness.”