Rising tensions and finger-pointing at DHS amid pressure to ramp up deportations

WASHINGTON — White House pressure to ramp up deportations has sparked rising tension and finger-pointing inside the Department of Homeland Security, with the agency’s secretary, Kristi Noem, and her top adviser blaming subordinates for not hitting arrest quotas and undermining their relationships inside the West Wing, according to two DHS officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

WASHINGTON — White House pressure to ramp up deportations has sparked rising tension and finger-pointing inside the Department of Homeland Security, with the agency’s secretary, Kristi Noem, and her top adviser blaming subordinates for not hitting arrest quotas and undermining their relationships inside the West Wing, according to two DHS officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

Noem and her close adviser Corey Lewandowski have sought to deflect blame from themselves for any White House frustration with the pace and scope of the deportations, pinning it instead on the leaders of the agencies in charge of immigration enforcement — acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, the DHS officials said.

Underscoring the turmoil, Scott recently expressed concern to colleagues that Lewandowski is able to monitor his emails, the two officials and another DHS official said, sparking concern among other top staffers that their messages were being reviewed.

“Everyone in leadership is so worried about what they say in email and text,” one of the top staffers said.

As the agency that carries out President Donald Trump’s mass deportations policy — a core tenet of his agenda — DHS is often under intense scrutiny both inside and outside the White House. The rising tensions within DHS come as deportation numbers continue to lag behind the administration’s goals, with Trump nearing the one-year mark of his second term.