SAN YSIDRO, Calif. (KGTV) -- Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen toured the San Ysidro Port of Entry Tuesday, according to a statement from the department.
According to a DHS spokesman, Nielsen toured the ports operations and “assess implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP).”
The trip follows the longest government shutdown in U.S. history caused by a fight over border security.
Nielsen’s visit also coincides with a recently-implemented policy that returns asylum seekers to Mexico for the duration of their immigration proceedings.
Read DHS’s full statement below:
Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen will travel to San Diego. Tomorrow she will meet with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees, and she will also conduct an operational tour of the San Ysidro Port of Entry to assess implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). Secretary Nielsen will see firsthand how MPP implementation will ensure migrants are protected according to U.S. and international obligations while also addressing the crisis at our Southern Border. MPP will bring order to chaotic migration flows, restore the integrity of the United States immigration system, and allow DHS to focus resources on individuals who are actually fleeing persecution while holding individuals accountable who make false immigration claims.
Secretary Nielsen's visit happened on the same day that the first asylum-seeking migrant was turned away from the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
