Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, is leaving the agency, the department confirmed on Tuesday.
McLaughlin has become the public face and voice defending the Trump administration’s mass deportation policy and immigration tactics over the past year.
“McLaughlin started planning to leave in December but pushed back her departure amid the aftermath of the shootings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers, according to the people briefed on her exit,” DHS said in a statement to NPR.
POLITICO first reported her departure. It is not clear where she is going next, or who will become the agency’s next spokesperson.
McLaughlin’s exit comes at a tumultuous time for the agency. DHS is currently shut down after lawmakers failed to pass a budget to fund it through the end of the fiscal year in September.
And high-ranking immigration officials, including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, have been summoned to Capitol Hill to testify on the immigration crackdown after immigration agents shot and killed Good and Pretti in Minneapolis.
McLaughlin has been among the most public-facing agency spokespeople, participating in several network interviews. Beyond speaking on DHS’ immigration initiatives, McLaughlin also fielded interviews and questions about Noem’s handling of national disaster relief and resources, and other parts of the sprawling agency.
Still, immigration has been the largest part of her portfolio. She often took to network shows and to social media to promote immigration arrests made by the administration, defend actions by DHS agents, and encouraged immigrants to “self-deport.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries praised news of her departure online; “Another MAGA extremist forced out of DHS. Noem next,” he posted on the social network X.
Most recently, McLaughlin defended Noem’s description of Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” after Customs and Border Protection officers shot and killed him — claims that eventually drew sharp scrutiny from lawmakers, including some Republicans.
“Initial statements were made after reports from CBP on the ground. It was a very chaotic scene,” McLaughlin told Fox Business late last month. “The early statements that were released were based on the chaotic scene on the ground and we really need to have true, accurate information to come to light.”
During last week’s congressional hearings, the heads of Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement both denied that they, or anyone under their chains of command, had given Noem information to substantiate that claim that Pretti was a domestic terrorist.
An NPR analysis published in January showed that DHS has made unproven or incorrect claims on social media or in press releases when describing immigrants targeted for deportation or U.S. citizens arrested during protests.
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