Despite opposition from Republicans, Democrats and immigration advocates, the Trump administration has installed immigration hard-liner Ken Cuccinelli as acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Cuccinelli, a former attorney general of Virginia and member of the state Senate, started at his new job on Monday. “Our nation has the most generous legal immigration system in the world and we must zealously safeguard its promise for those who lawfully come here,” Cuccinelli said in a statement to NPR. “I look forward to working with the men and women of USCIS to ensure our legal immigration system operates effectively and efficiently while deterring fraud and protecting the American people.”

Welcome to USCIS, Acting Director Kenneth T. “Ken” Cuccinelli II! pic.twitter.com/Gs8ekm8a2l — USCIS (@USCIS) June 10, 2019

Cuccinelli’s appointment was met with swift bipartisan criticism. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, told The Hill that Cuccinelli — once a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — would have a “hard time getting confirmed” if Trump seeks to make his appointment permanent. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told the outlet: “He’s made a career of attacking other Republicans and frankly attacking President Trump, so I doubt he’ll have the support to get confirmed.”

Immigration news: Trump’s new head of @USCIS is former never-Trumper @KenCuccinelli and he starts today as acting director.



I’ll never forget when @DonaldJTrumpJr angrily told me Cuccinelli was an idiot at RNC for opposing his dad on the convention floor. pic.twitter.com/HxjUACi9rP — Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) June 10, 2019

Democrats and immigration advocates have also expressed their concerns about Cuccinelli and his hard-line immigration positions. Cuccinelli has advocated for ending birthright citizenship and once suggested that undocumented migrants should be turned away at the border, pointed “back across the river” and allowed to “swim for it.” “Mr. Cuccinelli is an anti-immigrant fringe figure that has no business leading a component that is supposed to administer our Nation’s legal immigration system,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement to Time magazine. Thompson added that there was “no reason” for Trump to give the top USCIS job to someone facing opposition from both sides of the aisle. Other Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), also expressed disapproval of Cuccinelli. “Cuccinelli’s appointment is a threat to our country’s ideals,” Harris tweeted.

Ken Cuccinelli has fiercely advocated for ending birthright citizenship in the U.S. Today, the Trump administration appointed him to head the agency in charge of citizenship and immigration services.



Cuccinelli's appointment is a threat to our country's ideals—I will fight this. — Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) June 10, 2019

That Ken Cuccinelli started today despite not being nominated is unacceptable. Trump is doing an end run around the Senate to sneak his guy in the back door. Cuccinelli’s record on immigration is odious and I urge @SenateMajLdr to demand an actual nominee for Senate consideration https://t.co/wxq9jB2c9T — Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) June 10, 2019