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Acting Homeland Security Secretary In Arizona For Border Patrol Agent's Funeral

Kevin McAleenan
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Kevin McAleenan

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan was in Tucson on Sunday to attend the funeral of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Robert Hotten, who died on duty in Arizona last Sunday.

McAleenan, who resigned his post after six months as acting Homeland Security Secretary on Friday, was in Tucson for the service alongside the Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection and the chief of the U.S. Border Patrol. 

His tenure with the agency saw a sharp increase in asylum seekers at the border, and he publicly criticized the "tone, the message, the public face, and approach” of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy in a Washington Post interview.

McAleenan will remain acting secretary until the president chooses a successor.

Scott Bourque was a reporter and podcast producer at KJZZ from 2019 to 2022.