Jeh Johnson, Partner, Paul, Weiss; Former United States

Secretary of Homeland Security

Interviewed by Ari Melber of MSNBC, Secretary Johnson discussed his Original CAPI Publication:
service in the federal government and the public integrity issues he This brief was prepared by the Center for
faced. Melber opened the discussion by asking Secretary Johnson about the Advancement of Public Integrity at
use of force in international conflicts. As General Counsel of the Columbia Law School. We can be reached
Department of Defense during the first Obama Administration, at CAPI@law.columbia.edu.
Johnson was consulted to ensure that all military actions would be
consistent with domestic and international laws of armed conflict. He CAPI would like the thank Erica
Pedersen, CAPI summer research intern
recalled the difficulty of signing off on drone strikes, noting that he
and Columbia Law School student, for
would watch video footage of each strike he had authorized to
her authorship of this brief.
remember the gravity of his role. Johnson refuted Secretary Pompeo’s
assertion that the 2001 Congressional Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) would justify use of force
against Iran, particularly given the Trump administration’s professed motive of achieving regime change. He also
called on Congress to take responsibility for its role in authorizing discrete uses of force so that the President will
continue to involve them in the approval process rather than relying on Article II powers to bypass gridlock in the
legislature.

Melber then turned the conversation toward immigration, asking Secretary Johnson to reflect on the policies he had
pursued while serving as the head of the Department of Homeland Security during Obama’s second term. Johnson
began by noting that immigration is the most difficult issue he has had to grapple with as a public servant, particularly
at a time when misinformation spreads so quickly and migrants are unfairly demonized amid the over-politicization
of the issue. He also denounced the “lie” being spread that family separation began during the Obama Administration.
When pressed by Melber to respond to critics’ assertions that the Trump administration’s increasing deportation
efforts are merely following the “blueprint” developed during Johnson’s tenure, the former Secretary noted that the
Obama administration was not the first to expand enforcement in the face of increasing illegal immigration. Johnson
also defended the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), which has been criticized for
allowing migrant children to be held in military bases. Lauding the work that the Alliance for Prosperity has done to
target and reduce the underlying “push factors,” Johnson urged that lawmakers should be more receptive to real
solutions because doubling down on anti-immigrant rhetoric, cutting aid, and solidifying the border has only enhanced
anxieties and exacerbated the crisis.

Published: July 2019 |© 2019, Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity/Trustees of Columbia University
Terms of use and citation format appear at https://web.law.columbia.edu/public-integrity/about/terms-use.