Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs on the Division of Homeland Safety, speaks throughout a information convention on the headquarters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Might 2025.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
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Jose Luis Magana/AP
Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs on the Division of Homeland Safety, is leaving the company, the division confirmed on Tuesday.
McLaughlin has turn out to be the general public face and voice defending the Trump administration’s mass deportation coverage and immigration ways over the previous 12 months.
“McLaughlin began planning to depart in December however pushed again her departure amid the aftermath of the shootings of U.S. residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers, in response to the folks briefed on her exit,” DHS mentioned in an announcement to NPR.
POLITICO first reported her departure. It’s not clear the place she goes subsequent. McLaughlin in an announcement mentioned Lauren Bis, presently her deputy, will change her as assistant secretary for public affairs, whereas Katie Zacharia will turn out to be deputy assistant secretary.
“I’m immensely pleased with the staff we constructed and the historic accomplishments achieved by this Administration and the Division of Homeland Safety,” McLaughlin mentioned within the assertion. “I sit up for persevering with the combat forward.”
McLaughlin’s exit comes at a tumultuous time for the company. DHS is presently shut down after lawmakers did not move a funds to fund it by the top of the fiscal 12 months in September.
And high-ranking immigration officers, together with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, have been summoned to Capitol Hill to testify on the immigration crackdown after immigration brokers shot and killed Good and Pretti in Minneapolis.
McLaughlin has been among the many most public-facing company spokespeople, taking part in a number of community interviews. Past talking on DHS’ immigration initiatives, McLaughlin additionally fielded interviews and questions on Noem’s dealing with of nationwide catastrophe reduction and assets, and different elements of the sprawling company.
Noem praised McLaughlin’s work in an announcement on-line, saying she “served with distinctive dedication, tenacity, and professionalism.”
“Whereas we’re unhappy to see her go away, we’re grateful for her service and want Tricia nothing however success,” she wrote on the social platform X.
Immigration has been the biggest a part of McLaughlin’s portfolio. She usually took to community reveals and to social media to advertise immigration arrests made by the administration, defend actions by DHS brokers, and inspired immigrants to “self-deport.”
Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries praised information of her departure on-line; “One other MAGA extremist compelled out of DHS. Noem subsequent,” he posted on X.
Most just lately, McLaughlin defended Noem’s description of Pretti as a “home terrorist” after Customs and Border Safety officers shot and killed him — claims that finally drew sharp scrutiny from lawmakers, together with some Republicans.
“Preliminary statements had been made after studies from CBP on the bottom. It was a really chaotic scene,” McLaughlin instructed Fox Enterprise late final month. “The early statements that had been launched had been primarily based on the chaotic scene on the bottom and we actually must have true, correct info to come back to gentle.”
Throughout final week’s congressional hearings, the heads of Customs and Border Safety and Immigration and Customs Enforcement each denied that they, or anybody underneath their chains of command, had given Noem info to substantiate that declare that Pretti was a home terrorist.
An NPR evaluation revealed in January confirmed that DHS has made unproven or incorrect claims on social media or in press releases when describing immigrants focused for deportation or U.S. residents arrested throughout protests.
