Trump was furious that Kirstjen Nielsen 'resisted' his orders to restart immigrant family separations: report
A Mexican immigration officer holds a child by his arm. Image via AFP.

New reporting about the firing of Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen indicates that President Donald Trump was upset that she was unwilling to bring back his most controversial immigration policy.


Three American officials tell NBC News' Geoff Bennett and Julia Ainsley that Trump since January has been pounding the table about reinstating his policy of separating immigrant children from their parents when they are apprehended at the border.

According to Bennett, Nielsen resisted Trump's orders on this issue and told him that "federal court orders prohibited DHS from reinstating the policy and that he would be reversing his own executive order from June that ended family separation."

Even though Trump agreed to end his family separation policies last year, sources tell Bennett that he has been itching to bring it back because he believes it "has been the most effective policy at deterring large numbers of asylum seekers."

Other reports have indicated that Trump was unhappy with Nielsen because she regularly told him that his plans to stop immigrants from claiming asylum in the United States would break the law.