President Trump Nominates Patrick Shanahan to be Secretary of Defense

On May 9, 2019, the White House Press Secretary's Office announced that President Donald Trump will nominate Patrick M. Shanahan to be the Secretary of Defense [link]. Shanahan has been serving as acting Secretary of Defense since January 1, 2019. Previously, he had been serving as the Deputy Secretary of Defense since July 19, 2017. Prior to serving in the Department of Defense, Shanahan was an executive at Boeing [PDF version].

Although the Department of Defense is not as significant in the immigration context as the Department of State, Department of Justice, or the Department of Homeland Security, it does affect immigration law in certain areas. The Department of Defense sets rules for aliens serving in the armed forces, as we have seen with the effective suspension of the MAVNI program over the last couple of years [see article]. The Department of Defense also advises the President on the national security and foreign relations implications of certain immigration decisions. In recent months, the Department of Defense has been assisting the Department of Homeland Security in enforcing the immigration laws along the Southwest border.