White House 1600 Daily: The quiet patriotism of our next CIA Director

Driving the Day

• President Donald J. Trump presents the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy to the Army college football team, which defeated Air Force and Navy this season. Watch live at 12 p.m. ET. • The President will meet the crew of Southwest Flight 1380, thanking them for their heroic actions following an equipment malfunction that claimed one life two weeks ago. • Israel released information yesterday about Iranian efforts to develop missile-deliverable nuclear weapons. Read the statement from Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.

The quiet patriotism of our next CIA Director

Last week, CIA Deputy Director Gina Haspel assumed the role of Acting Director upon Mike Pompeo’s swearing-in as America’s 70th Secretary of State. Haspel is President Trump’s choice to succeed Secretary Pompeo at the CIA’s helm on a permanent basis. Service in the CIA is largely quiet, behind-the-scenes work to keep America safe. The names of these men and women are often unknown to the wider public, but their contributions to national security are indispensable. Haspel’s rise within the Agency is a testament to the crucial work of these public servants. Like Secretary Pompeo, Haspel’s credentials are far-reaching. She joined the CIA in the waning days of the Cold War and years later, with the fight against al Qaeda heating up, she requested a transfer to the CIA’s Counter Terrorism Center. Her first day on the job was September 11, 2001. That sense of patriotism is exactly what Americans deserve in a CIA Director.

Stunning new data on unaccompanied alien children

The costs from America’s porous immigration system continue to rise. At the end of April, news broke that between October 2016 and December 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was unable to locate nearly 1,500 of the 7,635 unaccompanied alien minors it attempted to reach—almost one-fifth of its file. “I don’t care what you think about immigration policy, it’s wrong,” Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) said. He’s right: A very small percentage of the unaccompanied alien children (UAC) who illegally enter the United States each year are ultimately removed, creating a major public safety challenge. Loopholes in our immigration laws put both UACs and American citizens at risk. Most UACs are older teens (16-17 years old) from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Some are MS-13 gang members who use our immigration system to infiltrate the United States, but UACs who are not gang members are still at risk of harm from MS-13. This broken system is dangerous for everyone. Learn more about how President Trump is calling on Congress to fix this problem.