The top U.S. diplomat to Latin America resigned this week amid tension over President Trump’s immigration policies, the Associated Press reported.
Two officials and a congressional aide who spoke to the AP offered varying rationales for Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Kimberly Breier’s exit. The two officials said her departure was centered on family issues, but the congressional aide pointed to a difference of opinion on immigration policy on asylum with Guatemala as reason for the exit.
According to the Washington Post, which first reported Breier’s departure, the top diplomat was recently scolded in an email chain by White House policy adviser and unofficial hardline immigration reform champion Stephen Miller. Miller reportedly said Breier was not publicly defending the Guatemala asylum agreement strongly enough. The agreement requires Central American migrants to first seek asylum in Guatemala before they can do so in America.
Breier was also unhappy with the White House’s level of interference on issues related to immigration and trade with Mexico, according to the Post.
