White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair has reportedly urged Republicans to shift their messaging about President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.
During House Republicans’ annual retreat in Doral, Florida, this week, Blair privately encouraged lawmakers to stop focusing their messaging on “mass deportations,” according to Axios. Instead, Blair reportedly suggested lawmakers focus on the deportation of violent criminals.
Following the report, Blair shared a message on social media voicing support for Republicans’ immigration agenda.
“Republicans want to keep deporting the violent/criminal illegals that Joe Biden & the Democrats in Congress let in,” he wrote on X. “Democrats want to shield them from deportation, which is why they unanimously support sanctuary cities. Republicans will get the violent criminals out. Democrats will throw the border back open.”
Trump has promised to carry out the largest mass deportation campaign in U.S. history. But recent surveys have indicated shifting public opinion about his plans.
A Fox News poll published last week found nearly 60 percent of voters disapprove of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s performance, which is up seven points from last fall. A Politico survey from January also revealed that 49 percent of Americans consider the president’s mass deportation efforts too aggressive.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
Trump’s agenda has faced heightened scrutiny in recent months, particularly after federal immigration agents fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis during separate incidents earlier this year. Their killings sparked nationwide protests and unrest.
Meanwhile, Trump announced Thursday he’s tapping Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin to replace Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, effective March 31. Noem will go on to serve as the special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, which Trump described as a “new security initiative in the Western Hemisphere.”
Trump said Noem has “served us well” and achieved “numerous and spectacular results” during her tenure.
Noem attended her first congressional hearings since the Minneapolis shootings last week, shortly before Trump’s announcement.
Lawmakers pushed back on her handling of the incidents, and criticized her previous statements accusing Good and Pretti of domestic terrorism. Noem called both shootings “an absolute tragedy” and offered her condolences to their families — but did not apologize for her past comments.
She also faced scrutiny over a $220 million advertising campaign.
Senator John Kennedy asked Noem: “The president approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently?”
“Yes, sir. We went through the legal processes, did it correctly,” she replied.
Trump later told Reuters he “never knew anything” about the ad campaign. Soon after that interview, he announced Mullin will be taking over Noem’s job.
The Oklahoma senator told reporters last week the news about his new role came as “a little bit of a surprise.”
“The Department of Homeland Security has very broad jurisdiction, and I think there is a lot of work that we need to do, and I am excited,” he said.
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