Katharine Gorka, a political appointee at the Department of Homeland Security who has stirred controversy for her views on terrorism and her role in the department's efforts to combat violent extremism in the US, is expected to be the new press secretary at Customs and Border Protection.
Acting CBP Commissioner John Sanders told CNN Tuesday that Gorka is expected to take the position and he advocated for her to join the agency.
The move comes as President Donald Trump continues his rhetoric against undocumented immigrants and the increasing number of migrants crossing the southern border and claiming asylum.
Trump issues vague threat to begin deporting 'millions' of undocumented immigrants next week
Customs and Border Protection is the agency responsible for policing the US borders and facilitating legal trade and travel. It is also the frontline agency dealing with the surge of migrants at the southern border. If Gorka steps into this new role, she will be taking on the public face of the agency at the center of the President's attention, which has been struggling with capacity and resource issues.
The Department of Homeland Security has also seen a major turnover in senior staff in the wake of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's forced departure in April. Several CBP officials joined Kevin McAleenan at DHS headquarters when he was named acting Homeland Security secretary.
CNN has reached out to Gorka for a response to her new post and past controversies.
Gorka is married to Sebastian Gorka, the former deputy assistant to Trump, who was an outspoken and combative defender of the President's national security agenda, known for his dire warnings of Islamic terrorism while writing for Breitbart.
Sebastian Gorka left the White House in August 2017, in the wake of chief White House strategist Steve Bannon's forced departure.
Both Gorkas wrote for Breitbart, where Bannon served as an executive before and after his time at the White House.
In a 2014, Breitbart story, Katharine Gorka, under the name Katie Gorka, wrote that "Presidents Bush and Obama both publicly declared Islam to be a religion of peace, which has struck a sour chord for many. "
"To date, American and Western leaders have preemptively shut down any debate within Islam by declaring that Islam is the religion of peace and that terrorism has nothing to do with Islam," she wrote.
In another 2014 article, she wrote that the Obama administration "narrowly defined the enemy as only the most violent jihadists: first Al Qaeda and now ISIS."
"This inaccurate assessment of the enemy has its roots in left-wing theories about social movements," she wrote in part.
Sebastian Gorka defends Trump's "Access Hollywood" comments: "He said that when he was a Democrat" pic.twitter.com/4IO6pz8RB5
— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) June 17, 2019
Gorka, a conservative radio host and ex-Breitbart editor who was deputy adviser on national security during Trump’s first eight months, came to the president’s defense when Jane from Atlanta called into his show, “America First,” with concerns about Trump saying he had groped women “while he’s actually married.”
[...]
Gorka immediately went on the defensive when Jane raised her concern.
Talking over her, Gorka sternly said: “Jane, stop talking ... How do you know he actually did that? Remember he said that when he was a Democrat. So, let’s not forget that. How do you know he did that?”