Deputy Secretary John Tien is retiring from the Department of Homeland Security after serving for just under two years, marking the latest major departure to hit the agency.
Tien has served in the capacity since June 24, 2021, and is the first Asian American to be confirmed for the position. He had previously served as chief operating officer at Citigroup, and before that on the National Security Council in the Obama administration as senior director for Afghanistan and Pakistan from 2009-2011, and for the Bush administration as director for Iraq from 2008-2009.
During the Clinton administration he served as a White House fellow in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. He is also a military veteran with 24 years of service and three combat tours of duty to Iraq. His retirement date is July 20.
In an internal email sent to DHS employees on Tuesday morning and seen by Fox News Digital, Tien thanked DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “for having the confidence in me to support my nomination to President Biden and even more so, to empower and enable me to ‘co-lead’ the Department with him.”
In a statement, Mayorkas praised Tien as “an extraordinary patriot and public servant and a wonderful human being.”
“For the past two years, Deputy Secretary Tien has led transformational initiatives. He coordinated interagency efforts in support of international pre-screening operations in Operation Allies Refuge; led interagency policy development in Operation Allies Welcome; created innovative programs to disrupt and dismantle international criminal organizations involved in fentanyl and human smuggling; led the development of our Department’s strategy in the Indo-Pacific Region; and much more,” he said.
He also cited Tien’s work at G7 ministerial meetings and internal efforts to strengthen training, hiring and improve facilities.
Last year, then-Customs and Border Protection Director Chris Magnus quit the agency after being told he would be fired if he did not resign.
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The latest departures come after what the administration has hailed as a successful implementation of a strategy to deal with the end of the Title 42 public health order at the beginning of May.