Homeland Security pick cites securing border as top priority
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security likes the idea of a wall to secure the border with Mexico but says technology and manpower are also a must.
“A physical barrier in and of itself will not do the job,” retired Marine Gen. John Kelly told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee during a confirmation hearing Tuesday. “Certainly it has to be a layered approach.”
The normally blunt-talking Marine walked a fine line in his answers to several questions about how Trump’s Homeland Security Department will carry out its many varied missions, specifically efforts to find and deport immigrants living in the country illegally. He struck a balance between defending Trump’s hard-line positions on immigration and border security, and the more moderate positions of some senators, especially Democrats.
Asked about the fate of young immigrants protected from deportation by President Barack Obama, Kelly told Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California that “the law would guide him” in every decision he will make if confirmed.