Nielsen had been widely criticized for her defenses of the administration's "zero tolerance" policy for asylum seekers, leading to a dramatic escalation in the number of children taken from their parents to be held in separate detention camps. She also came under fire after multiple deaths of immigrant children in federal custody. She has also been a reliable conduit for administration-pushed false claims and conspiracy theories.
CBS News reports that the move appears to be "part of a larger overhaul" of the department by Trump and top aide Stephen Miller, an obsessive pursuer of anti-immigrant white nationalist policies. Just a few days prior to Nielsen's resignation, Trump withdrew the nomination of proposed ICE director Ron Vitiello, saying he now wanted to go in a "tougher direction."
It is likely, then, that Nielsen was forced to resign not for her false claims to Congress, the cruelty with which her department instituted child separation policies or the gross indifference of the department to reunification efforts afterwards, but because Trump is now looking to replace her with someone who will institute even more aggressive and inhumane policies.
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