Latest Moves
January 2021: Wolf Joined Heritage Foundation As a Fellow [Heritage Foundation press release, 1/29/21]
January 2021: Wolf Resigned as Acting DHS Secretary. [CNN, 1/11/21]
August 2020: Trump Nominated Wolf As DHS Secretary. [NPR, 8/25/20]
November 2019: Trump Selected Wolf To Serve As Acting Secretary Of Department Of Homeland Security. [New York Times, 11/1/19]
Recent News
Headline: CBS News: “DHS chief Chad Wolf claims some deported parents ‘have chosen to separate their children from themselves.’” [CBS News, 10/29/20]
October 2020: Wolf Confirmed He Had No Regrets About Family Separation Policy. “Asked Tuesday if he had any regrets about the zero tolerance policy, which was enforced when he was the DHS chief of staff, Wolf said he did not, and reiterated previous statements that he supported President Trump’s executive order in June 2018 expressing support for “family unity,” which came days before U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego brought an end to large-scale family separations.” [CBS News, 10/29/20]
Headline: NBC News: “Watchdog Group: Trump DHS Pick Made False Claims About Role In Family Separation Policy.” [NBC News, 11/7/19]
Wolf Falsely Testified To Senate Committee That He Had No Involvement In Developing Family Separation Policy. “During the hearing, Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., asked Wolf if he helped develop the family separation policy, known as zero tolerance, that then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in the spring of 2018. “No ma’am,” Wolf told Rosen. “We were given direction both through an executive order and the attorney general’s zero tolerance policy at the time. The discussions that were underway at the Department at that time were operational.”” [NBC News, 11/7/19]
Headline: NBC News: “Trump admin considering Chad Wolf, an author of family separation policy, for DHS chief.” [NBC News, 10/22/19]
NBC News: “Wolf Was An Early Architect Of The Migrant Family Separation Policy,” Sending Memo To Then-Secretary Nielsen With List Of Options Including “Separate Family Units.” “Wolf is not considered as hard-line on immigration as two other names floated for the job — acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli and acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection Mark Morgan — but internal emails obtained by NBC News show Wolf was an early architect of the migrant family separation policy at the southwest border. As far back as December 2017, when Wolf was acting chief of staff to Nielsen, he sent a list of 16 options to curb the number of undocumented immigrants to Gene Hamilton, counselor to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, for review. Number two on the list: “Separate family units.” “Announce that DHS is considering separating family units, placing the adults in detention and placing minors under the age of 18 in the custody of HHS as unaccompanied alien children,” Wolf wrote, referring to the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency that would later be called on to shelter more than 2,800 children separated from their parents in 2018.” [NBC News, 10/22/19]
Wolf Served As Chief Of Staff To Secretary Nielsen During Implementation Of Family Separation Policy In 2018. “Wolf later served as chief of staff to Nielsen during the family separation policy, known as “zero tolerance,” in May and June of 2018. Trump ended it through executive action in late June, after public outrage mounted and recordings emerged of migrant children crying for their parents behind chain-linked barricades.” [NBC News, 10/22/19]
NYT: Wolf Helped Enforce Child Separation Policy, “Viewed By Stephen Miller … As Someone Who Can Reliably Put Into Effect His Immigration Agenda.” “As Ms. Nielsen’s chief of staff, Mr. Wolf helped enforce the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy to prosecute families who crossed the border illegally, which led to thousands of children being separated from their parents. Many of those children are still separated from their families. Mr. Wolf is viewed by Stephen Miller, the White House adviser and the chief architect of the president’s border policies, as someone who can reliably put into effect his immigration agenda, according to administration officials.” [New York Times, 11/1/19]
