It’s war: Trump wants ‘battlefield commander’ on border to stop illegal immigrants

President Trump’s moves at the Department of Homeland Security this week amount to an all-out declaration of war on illegal immigration, one that will rewrite rules of engagement and require his top aides run the battle from the border, according to officials.

A senior aide said that the president wants a “battlefield commander” who will take the fight to the border and not get stalled or sidelined by agency and congressional politics.

“We have to have somebody in the battlefield on a day-to-day basis, in like a forward theater, that’s actually making decisions in real time to meet deadlines and meet targets,” said the official. It is "very difficult to direct that ... from a distance,” said the official.

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