Senior national security official who supported refugees ‘forced out of White House role’

Jennifer Arangio reportedly clashed with immigration hard-liners like Stephen Miller

US President Donald Trump leaves with Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Advisor John Bolton after a press conference at the G7 Summit (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

A top national security council official who clashed with members of the Trump administration over immigration policy is no longer working at the White House, according to reports.

Jennifer Arangio, the former NSC senior director for international organisations and alliances, left her position this week, administration officials told multiple outlets. It was unclear whether she resigned or was forced out, though the departure reportedly came after months of tensions with immigration hard-liners in the White House.

A spokesperson for the NSC told The Independent that the council did not comment on personnel matters. Ms Arangio did not respond to a request for comment.

Ms Arangio, a former lawyer, was charged with overseeing the NSC’s engagement with multilateral organisations and advised on US global humanitarian assistance.

In this role, she repeatedly tried to correct misinformation about refugees and migrants provided to the president by White House adviser Stephen Miller and other members of the Domestic Policy Council, a former White House official told Politico.

Mr Miller is known for his hard-line stance on immigration, including his support for the president’s “zero tolerance” border patrol policy, which resulted in the separation of more than 2,000 migrant children from their families in recent months. Donald Trump himself has drastically cut the number of refugees allowed into the country to 45,000 per year – the lowest in decades.

Still, the former White House adviser described Ms Arangio as “fiercely loyal” to the president. She worked for months as the national director for women’s engagement on Mr Trump’s campaign, according to her LinkedIn page, and joined the NSC in January of 2017. She previously served as senior counsel to the House Committee on Homeland Security for eight years.

Ms Arangio’s departure comes amid a wave of shakeups on the NSC, following foreign policy hawk John Bolton’s appointment as national security adviser in early April.

Former homeland security adviser Tom Bossert resigned his role just days after Mr Bolton took control of the council, followed by NSC spokesman Michael Anton, deputy national security adviser for strategy Nadia Schadlow, and the council’s chief of staff and executive secretary, Keith Kellogg.

Two senior officials left the NSC’s Middle East section just this week, according to Politico. Adviser Joel Rayburn was expected to join the State Department, where he would continue working on Middle East issues, the outlet reported. It was unclear what would happen to the other official, Michael Bell.

Mr Bolton took over as national security adviser from Lieutenant General HR McMaster, who was appointed to replace former national security adviser Michael Flynn in the early months of the Trump administration.