Trump Picks Retired Gen. Kelly to Head Homeland Security
07 December 2016 - 8:00PM
Dow Jones News
WASHINGTON—President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate
retired four-star Marine Gen. John Kelly to head the Department of
Homeland Security, according to people close to transition.
Gen. Kelly, who joined the Marine Corps in 1970, retired this
year. His last command included oversight of the Guantanamo Bay
detention center.
He wrapped up a final, three-year post as head of U.S. Southern
Command, which spanned some of the fractious debate over the Obama
administration's ultimately failed pledge to close Guantanamo.
Gen. Kelly served three tours in Iraq. He is the most senior
military officer to lose a child in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.
His son was killed in Afghanistan.
Highly respected, often outspoken, and known as a fierce, loyal
commander, the senior Kelly would take over the nation's newest
federal agency, with its expanse of responsibilities, from airport
security and terrorism to immigration and the Coast Guard. The
department was formed after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in an
effort to get the U.S. government better-positioned to prevent and
respond to future attacks.
If confirmed by the Senate, Gen. Kelly would be the fifth person
to lead the department and the first one who isn't a lawyer. It is
comprised of agencies that protect the president, respond to
disasters, enforce immigration laws, protect the nation's
coastlines and secure air travel.
His selection, however, also bolsters concerns about an increase
in military influence in U.S. policy in a Trump White House. And it
raises the scepter of militarization along the border, as Trump
moves forward on his signature issue of immigration and his promise
to build a wall along the southern border and go after people
living in the country illegally.
In Gen. Kelly, Mr. Trump would have another four-star military
officer for his administration. James Mattis, a retired four-star
Army general, is the president-elect's pick for defense
secretary.
Immigration enforcement is a familiar issue for Gen. Kelly.
Southern Command, which is based in South Florida, regularly works
with DHS on missions to identify and dismantle immigrant smuggling
networks. And it has joined with Immigration and Customs
Enforcement in an operation targeting human smuggling into the U.S.
and helped with the rescue of children arriving alone at U.S.
borders.
The department has struggled with its identity, trying to
balance its ties with the military and maintain its role as a
civilian law enforcement agency. Customs and Border
Protection—which includes the Border Patrol—and the Coast Guard
routinely partner with Southern Command to coordinate drug
smuggling investigations in the Caribbean.
If immigration enforcement is prioritized the way Mr. Trump
promised during his presidential campaign, the department would be
challenged with beefing up the screening of immigrants allowed to
come into the U.S., and finding additional resources to track down
and deport people living in the U.S. illegally. It also would need
to find a place to house these immigrants while they're waiting for
deportation.
Scraping for federal funds and equipment to battle such problems
wouldn't be a new challenge for Gen. Kelly. As the head of Southern
Command, he was often blunt about his need for more resources to
fight the drug trade that sweeps into the U.S. from South
America.
--Copyright 2016 the Associated Press
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 07, 2016 14:45 ET (19:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.