White House chief of staff John Kelly pressured acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke to deny the extension of tens of thousands of residency permits to Honduran immigrants currently living in the US, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
Despite the pressure earlier this week from the White House, which also came from White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert, Duke refused to reverse her decision to extend the permits, current and former administration officials told the Post.
“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,” DHS spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told the Post.
TPS is an immigration status allowed by law for certain countries experiencing dire conditions, such as a natural disaster, epidemic or war, and protects individuals from deportation and authorizes them to work in the US.
Officials told the Post that Duke told Kelly she plans to resign. However, Hoffman told the Post that there is “zero factural basis” for that claim.
CNN has reached out to DHS for comment about the article. An administration official confirmed to CNN that Kelly called Duke to discuss the issue, but the conversation was “focused on the chief encouraging her to make a decision.”
On Monday, the DHS terminated TPS for Nicaragua with a 12-month delay but Duke said she has not been able to reach a decision on Honduras despite different agencies’ input, triggering an automatic six-month extension. At the end of that six-month window, the homeland security secretary will make a decision to terminate or further extend the status.
The Trump administration has signaled a desire to wind down the protections of TPS. Without TPS, those individuals revert to whatever status they had previously — which could leave large numbers as undocumented immigrants.
President Donald Trump has nominated Kirstjen Nielsen to be the new secretary of DHS.