Udall, Heinrich Call On DHS Acting Secretary Wolf and Acting Deputy Secretary Cuccinelli To Step Down After Positions Deemed Legally Invalid

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich are calling on U.S. Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf and Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli to step down after independent watchdog finds appointments to be legally invalid.

“Chad Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli cannot legally serve in their roles at DHS, and they are not above the law. Both must step down immediately,” said Udall. “Every single official action they have undertaken since assuming their positions – including undermining DACA, closing the door to asylum seekers, and rushing ahead with the president’s destructive and ineffective border wall – is now legally dubious and each action must be fully reviewed and investigated. The Trump administration once again shows that they believe the rules don’t apply to them when they can’t get their way in Congress. This lawlessness, all to install two anti-immigrant zealots, cannot stand.”

“President Trump's anti-immigrant crusade is inhumane and immoral, and it’s been carried out by Chad Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli,” said Heinrich. “Their policies have separated families. They have targeted peaceful demonstrators. And they are against our hard-won American values. Now we know that they are also illegal. Wolf and Cuccinelli need to resign now – and should not even be allowed back in the building.”