WASHINGTON — As he threatens to shut down the U.S. border with Mexico, President Trump is considering bringing on an “immigration czar” to coordinate policy across various federal agencies, according to four people familiar with the discussions.
Mr. Trump is considering at least two candidates for the post: former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the sources told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The planning developed as Mr. Trump threatens to close the U.S.-Mexico border this week if Mexico does not completely halt illegal immigration into the United States.
Aides said the potential appointment, which they caution is still in the planning stages, would serve as the “face” of the Trump Administration on immigration issues.
A Department of Homeland Security official noted that White House czars have been appointed in the past when there has been an “urgent need” for sustained, inter-agency policy coordination.
Mr. Trump has complained, both publicly and privately, about how he has not been able to do more to stop the tide of illegal immigration, which he has likened to an “invasion” and described as a national security crisis.
Arrests along the southern border have skyrocketed in recent months, and border agents were on track to make 100,000 arrests or denials of entry in March.
More than half of those are families with children.
The Trump Administration blames smugglers and weak immigration laws for the influx, while advocates for immigrants say Central Americans are fleeing hunger, poverty, and violence.
Mr. Trump summoned Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen back from a conference in Europe Monday in response to the spike in migrant families at the border.
But there were no immediate signs that the Trump Administration was preparing to follow through on the President’s threats to close legal ports of entry altogether.
Ms. Nielsen canceled her planned participation in a G-7 ministerial meeting in Paris and returned to Washington, according to a senior official.
Moving ahead with a plan announced last week, Ms. Nielsen issued written orders to U.S. Customs and Border Protection to deploy “emergency surge operations” to the southern border and expand a program that requires migrants to wait in Mexico as they apply for asylum in the United States.
She directed the CBP to quickly reassign up to 750 blue-uniformed Office of Field Operations officers to assist Border Patrol agents with the soaring numbers of Central American migrants.
CBP officials said they had yet to receive word about potential port closings.
Such a move would cut off bilateral trade and tourism and wreak economic havoc on both countries, experts said.
“The crisis at our border is worsening, and DHS will do everything in its power to end it,” Ms. Nielsen said. “We will immediately redeploy hundreds of CBP personnel to the border to respond to this emergency.”
A day after his top aides had warned on the Sunday talk shows that the President was serious about his border threats, Mr. Trump made no new mentions of potential port closings on Twitter or anywhere else.
A DHS official said 545 officers had been reassigned as of Monday under Ms. Nielsen’s emergency orders.
She is considering a plan to redeploy up to 2,000 officers from field operations to Border Patrol — which could slow pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic at legal ports of entry even if Mr. Trump decides not to fully close them.
Theresa Brown, a former DHS policy official in the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, called the situation unprecedented, given the record number of Central American families that have crossed the border in recent months.
She noted that border port closings after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks caused widespread harm to the economies of the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Ms. Nielsen also ordered CBP to expand a new policy to return asylum seekers to Mexico to await immigration court hearings in the United States.
Three weeks ago officials said they had sent 240 migrants back to Mexico since January.
On Monday Ms. Nielsen ordered them to return hundreds each day — a labor-intensive effort because, under the policy, officials must interview migrants, provide them with an immigration court date, and work with Mexico to shuttle them across the border.
Mr. Trump has called on Mexico to halt the flow of Central Americans traveling to the United States border.
He also threatened to cut foreign aid to migrants’ homelands in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador for not stopping them from leaving.
Experts said that move could backfire if economic and security situations in those countries deteriorate and lead to more mass migration without the aid money.
The Trump Administration is urging Congress to increase its power to detain and deport Central American families.
Officials say those seeking asylum are virtually guaranteed release into the United States because of limited detention space and a massive immigration court backlog.
Immigration policy experts said it is difficult to assess Mr. Trump’s threats to close the border because the White House has not released any details about plans to do so.
The CBP operates 27 ports of entry along the border with Mexico, and the President has not indicated how many he might seek to close — or for how long.
First Published April 2, 2019, 3:33 a.m.
