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The Trump administration is preparing to fire hundreds of high-level Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees this week in a sweeping effort to remove officials deemed out of step with its aggressive immigration and border security agenda, according to sources familiar with the plan.
The firings will target career employees in senior managerial roles across every component of DHS, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
According to three sources, the administration has compiled a list of Senior Executive Service (SES) and General Schedule 15 (GS-15) employees who will be removed, not to reduce the overall workforce, but to eliminate those viewed as obstructing Trump’s immigration enforcement priorities.
“These people put themselves in a terrible position, and they need to be removed,” a senior Trump administration official told NBC News.
A Political Purge at DHS?
DHS is the third-largest federal agency, with a crucial role in enforcing immigration law and securing the southwest border. Trump has relied on CBP to fortify border security and on ICE to ramp up arrests and deportations of undocumented immigrants. The planned dismissals reflect a deeper effort to reshape the agency by sidelining career officials who might resist more aggressive policies.
A former senior Biden administration official criticized the move, arguing that many of the targeted officials are career public servants who influence policy and strategy at the highest levels.
“These are career people, not political appointees, who have an influence on policy and strategy in those positions,” the former official said. “This isn’t about reducing waste—it’s about getting rid of anyone who won’t blindly follow orders.”
In response, a Trump administration official defended the firings, arguing that they are necessary to ensure DHS operates efficiently under Trump’s leadership.
“We are making sweeping cuts and reform across the federal government to eliminate egregious waste and incompetence that has been happening for decades at the expense of the American taxpayer,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
A Broader Federal Workforce Overhaul
The DHS firings come amid a broader effort to shrink the federal workforce and install officials loyal to Trump’s policy goals. On Friday night, widespread layoffs hit multiple DHS agencies, including FEMA, USCIS, and CISA.
This restructuring is part of a centralized plan to overhaul key government agencies, particularly those involved in national security and immigration enforcement. ICE and CBP are expected to receive additional resources and staffing to carry out mass deportations, a major pillar of Trump’s second-term agenda.
Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, has already begun recruiting staff from agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to assist in large-scale immigrant arrests.
“It’s just not ICE. We had DEA, FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshal Service, DOJ—all in,” Homan said following a mass deportation operation in Chicago last month.
What’s Next?
While it remains unclear how many senior officials will ultimately be removed from DHS, sources suggest that hundreds of employees could be affected in the coming weeks. The administration’s next moves will likely shape how DHS functions under Trump, especially as immigration enforcement intensifies.
With legal challenges and pushback from government employee unions expected, the DHS shakeup could mark one of the most significant restructurings in the department’s history.
