President Donald Trump's decision to replace Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem gives him an opportunity to reset his mass deportation agenda — or to double down on a campaign promise.

Texas' floating barrier on the Rio Grande is new, but a former Trump official says the idea isn't.

Two U.S. congresswomen have renewed demands for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to provide a formal apology and release records in connection with the January 2020 detainment of 200 Iranian Americans at the U.S.-Canada border.

But with acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan's Thursday departure date rapidly approaching, officials said McAleenan could stay up to a week longer to ensure a smooth transition. The official said the White House has determined Trump has that legal authority under a mechanism first reported by The New York Times. McAleenan, who's served as acting secretary since April, submitted his resignation to the White House earlier this month. In April, the White House's growing frustration with leadership led to the ouster that placed McAleenan at the helm. The White House also considered Chad Wolf to replace the outgoing acting Homeland Security secretary, according to two sources familiar with the process.

The crush of migrants at the southern border this past fiscal year -- totaling nearly 1 million, Morgan announced this month -- overwhelmed US officials. The US Border Patrol apprehended 473,682 family members last fiscal year, up from 107,212 in fiscal year 2018. In January 2017, Trump issued an executive order calling for the hiring and assignment of an additional 5,000 Border Patrol agents "as soon as is practicable." The agency increased the number of CBP officers by 1,034 for a total of 24,511, and added 93 Border Patrol agents, totaling 19,648. In September, Border Patrol arrested 40,507 migrants on the US-Mexico border, a significant drop from nearly 133,000 arrests in May, according to agency data.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The White House's personnel director has told President Donald Trump that neither immigration hardliner Ken Cuccinelli nor Customs and Border Protection chief Mark Morgan are eligible to succeed Kevin McAleenan as acting Homeland Security secretary, a senior administration official confirmed to CNN. The administration is yet again seeking someone to fill the top post at the Department of Homeland Security, after a year of high border apprehension numbers and leadership turnover. Cuccinelli was immediately rumored to be among the candidates considered for the acting secretary job. But there are legal hurdles to installing Cuccinelli as acting Homeland Security secretary. "The first possibility is precluded by statute (the Deputy DHS secretary is the 'first assistant,' and Cuccinelli isn't that).

Go Fest will be packed with fun activities and demonstrations this weekend! You'll see one vendor with a large grinding and polishing machine set up, and he stopped by Daytime Blue Ridge. Mark Morgan showed Bridget and Lindsey how he takes a rock and turns into a treasure. To find out more information, visit the Morgan's Earth Treasures Facebook page. Copyright 2019 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.

Mark Morgan shows us how he takes a rock and turns it into treasureCopyright 2019 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.

In this handout photo, U.S. Border Patrol agents conduct intake of illegal border crossers at the Central Processing Center on June 17, 2018, in McAllen, Texas. (CNN) - The number of migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border skyrocketed last year as Customs and Border Protection apprehended and deemed inadmissible nearly one million people during the government's 2019 fiscal year, according to acting Customs and Border Protection chief Mark Morgan. He pointed out, though, that the "apprehension and inadmissible" numbers have dropped in recent months, calling it an "unprecedented achievement." Law enforcement actions generally include US Border Patrol arrests, as well as people deemed inadmissible at the legal ports of entry. CBP expects, he said, to have installed approximately 450 miles of wall by the end of fiscal year 2020.

CNNSAN DIEGO - President Donald Trump signed his name on a newly constructed section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, calling it a "world-class security system" that will be virtually impenetrable. Trump toured a section of the border wall in San Diego's Otay Mesa area on Wednesday. He stood with construction workers and top Customs and Border Protection, Army Corps of Engineers and homeland security officials. Mark Morgan, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, defended the project, dismissing critics who call it the "president's vanity wall." "I'm here to tell you that's false," he said, telling reporters that Trump reached out to border experts to find out what they needed.

(CNN) - The Trump administration will not grant temporary protected status, a form of humanitarian relief, to Bahamians affected by Hurricane Dorian, according to an administration official. The Trump administration has moved to end TPS for many of the countries with the protection, but courts have so far blocked those efforts. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida asked Trump to suspend certain visa requirements for Bahamians who have relatives in the United States. By Monday, Rubio said storm survivors were already being evacuated to the United States without being required to show visas after coordinating with authorities. "Those individuals who do make it to the United States that don't have travel documents ... we're going to apply discretion on a case-by-case basis.

(CNN) - Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan, speaking at the White House on Monday, touted a drop in border arrests and highlighted the construction of new sections of the border wall. The August numbers show a consistent decline in arrests since the spring, and come as the Trump administration has pushed forward numerous controversial policies intended to help stem the flow of migrants arriving at the southern border. The acting CBP commissioner also touted the President's border wall. "This wall is absolutely needed to safeguard our southern border," Morgan said. Defense Department officials say 127 military construction projects are being put on hold in order to use the $3.6 billion to fund building 175 miles of southern border wall.

Matthew Bourke, an ICE spokesman, said ICE will not comment on operational details and "ICE prioritizes the arrest and removal of unlawfully present aliens who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security." On Wednesday, acting US Citizenship and Immigration Services director Ken Cuccinelli said the ICE raids are "absolutely going to happen" following a delay from the President to see if Congress could work out a legislative solution on immigration. ICE had planned to arrest and deport families with court-ordered removals in 10 cities in late June, according to a senior immigration official. After the original raids were delayed, Acting ICE Director Mark Morgan said operational details that had been reported were to blame. Former acting ICE director John Sandweg, who served under the Obama administration, also expressed concern Thursday about operational details being released ahead of time.