Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security known for her combative style and forceful defense of President Trump’s immigration agenda, is stepping down from the agency, according to two officials with knowledge of the decision.
Her planned departure comes after a tumultuous month for D.H.S. in which three people were shot by immigration officers in Minneapolis; two died, and department officials have walked back their claims about the third, whose injuries were nonfatal. Ms. McLaughlin had made plans to leave the agency in December but extended her service after the first two shootings, one homeland security official said.
Ms. McLaughlin has become one of the most prominent voices in the administration advocating Mr. Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
In that role, she has slammed reporters on social media, battled with politicians online and become a fixture on cable news. The department’s social media feed has, at the same time, become increasingly aggressive, posting memes and graphics that included a World War II-style graphic asking for people to “report all foreign invaders” and another with the phrase “We’ll have our home again.”
That is also the title of a song backed by white nationalist groups. But, Ms. McLaughlin said at the time, the post had no relation to the white supremacist anthem. If it did, it “would be a problem” and “morally repugnant,” she said.
Mr. Trump has publicly praised Ms. McLaughlin.
“Great job by wonderful TRICIA MCLAUGHLIN, DHS Assistant Secretary, on the Sean Hannity Show,” he wrote on social media in December. “Many Illegals from around our Nation charged with serious crimes this week. Tricia really knows her ‘STUFF!’”
The news of Ms. McLaughlin’s departure was reported earlier by Politico.
On her X account, Ms. McLaughlin has pinned a debate she had with the ABC News anchor Jay O’Brien about the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, in particular pushing back on the notion that he was a “Maryland man.”
“I can do this all day, Jay,” Ms. McLaughlin said in the clip.
Hamed Aleaziz covers the Department of Homeland Security and immigration policy for The Times.
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