Homeland Security deputy secretary retires from agency

Homeland Security Deputy Secretary John Tien on Tuesday announced his retirement from the agency, making him the latest top Biden official to leave the administration. 

"I thank Secretary Alejandro N. 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," Tien told Homeland Security employees. 

Tien had served 24 years in the U.S. Army before he retired in 2011. He worked for the Obama administration and became the deputy secretary of Homeland Security in June 2021. 

A major portion of Tien's work at Homeland Security was Operation Allies Refuge and Operation Allies Welcome, both of which focused on Afghan refugees after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

While at Homeland Security, Tien "coordinated interagency efforts in support of international pre-screening operations in Operation Allies Refuge; led interagency policy development in Operation Allies Welcome [and] created innovative programs to disrupt and dismantle international criminal organizations involved in fentanyl and human smuggling," among other things, Mayorkas said.

Tien plans on returning to live with his family in Atlanta, as he has been living in D.C. for the past two years. He will formally leave the agency on July 20. 

As of May 26, the Biden administration's turnover rate for top officials was 52%, according to the Brookings Institute, a D.C. think tank.

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.