--- title: The United Nations Rejected President Trump's Pick for a Migration Group description: In a rare snub of the Trump Administration, the United Nations failed to approve an American pick to head an international migration group. canonical: https://time.com/5326783/the-united-nations-rejected-president-trumps-pick-for-a-migration-group/ author: Abigail Simon article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-29T16:45:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:44:09.064Z article:section: Politics og:title: The United Nations Rejected President Trump's Pick for a Migration Group og:description: After old tweets making derogatory comments about Muslims were uncovered. og:url: https://time.com/5326783/the-united-nations-rejected-president-trumps-pick-for-a-migration-group/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7685e9b9fa0e4be5/69892f678fd2ee8dd335b817/rts1kfov.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6720 og:image:height: 3780 og:image:alt: International flags fly in front of The United Nations Headquarters building in New York og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The United Nations Rejected President Trump's Pick for a Migration Group twitter:description: After old tweets making derogatory comments about Muslims were uncovered. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7685e9b9fa0e4be5/69892f678fd2ee8dd335b817/rts1kfov.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The United Nations Rejected President Trump's Pick for a Migration Group > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Abigail Simon](https://time.com/author/abigail-simon/) ## Abigail Simon Jun 29, 2018 4:45 PM UTC  The United Nations headquarters building in New York City on Nov. 17, 2017. The United Nations headquarters building in New York City on Nov. 17, 2017. Brendan McDermid—Reuters by [Abigail Simon](https://time.com/author/abigail-simon/) ## Abigail Simon Jun 29, 2018 4:45 PM UTC In a [rare snub of the Trump Administration](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the%5Famericas/un-migration-agency-picks-new-chief-post-long-held-by-us/2018/06/29/03cc6128-7b73-11e8-ac4e-421ef7165923%5Fstory.html?noredirect=on&utm%5Fterm=.03239820cfe3), the United Nations failed to approve an American pick to head an international migration group. After a third round of voting on Friday, Trump nominee Ken Isaacs was removed from the list of potential candidates to lead the International Organization for Migration. This is only the [second time ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the%5Famericas/un-migration-agency-picks-new-chief-post-long-held-by-us/2018/06/29/03cc6128-7b73-11e8-ac4e-421ef7165923%5Fstory.html?noredirect=on&utm%5Fterm=.9e3abd261281)that an American won’t lead the IOM since the organization’s founding in 1951\. Portuguese politician and European Union diplomat [Antonio Vitorino](https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/portugals-vitorino-elected-head-of-un-migration-agency-iom) earned the necessary two-thirds majority and will become the IOM’s next leader. Isaacs, [the vice president of the evangelical Christian non-profit Samaritan’s Purse](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the%5Famericas/un-migration-agency-picks-new-chief-post-long-held-by-us/2018/06/29/03cc6128-7b73-11e8-ac4e-421ef7165923%5Fstory.html?noredirect=on&utm%5Fterm=.9e3abd261281), had faced criticism for derogatory statements about Islam that were discovered on his Twitter page. He [wrote](https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/22/politics/kfile-more-tweets-ken-isaacs/index.html) “#Islam is not peaceful,” “Muslims fast, they also blast,” and “All #Islamic #terrorists literally follow #Islam.” His Twitter account has now been made private. In a statement, Isaacs [apologized](https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/22/politics/kfile-more-tweets-ken-isaacs/index.html), saying that he “deeply” regretted his comments and that “I pledge to hold myself to the highest standards of humanity, human dignity, and equality if chosen to lead IOM.” [CNN’s reporting](https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/22/politics/kfile-more-tweets-ken-isaacs/index.html) also uncovered that he had once tweeted that Austria and Switzerland should consider building a wall in the Alps to solidify their border against refugees. “#immigration #wall #Austria #Switzerland consider#buildingawall in #Alps to control their border from refugees,” he tweeted. The Obama Administration’s ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council [tweeted](https://twitter.com/AmbHarper/status/1012666828479483904) “Yet another sign that US power, authority and prestige has been so drastically diminished. IOM Director is seen as an ‘American seat’ and Trump was unable to place an American in it.” The International Organization for Migration was [created after World War II ](https://news.un.org/en/story/2016/07/535282-general-assembly-decision-makes-international-organization-migration-part-un)to aid countries as they faced mass displacement in Europe. Ever since, it has supported migrants by dictating international norms about immigration and refugee status and occasionally provided emergency assistance to refugees. Its [mission](https://www.iom.int/) is to foster “humane and orderly migration.” The decision came as the Trump Administration’s has continued with a “zero tolerance” policy towards people caught crossing the U.S. border, which resulted in the separation of [over 2,300 migrant children](https://www.npr.org/2018/06/19/621065383/what-we-know-family-separation-and-zero-tolerance-at-the-border) from their families at the U.S. border until President Trump ended a family separation policy. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5326783/the-united-nations-rejected-president-trumps-pick-for-a-migration-group/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5326783/the-united-nations-rejected-president-trumps-pick-for-a-migration-group/"},"headline":"The United Nations Rejected President Trump's Pick for a Migration Group","datePublished":"2018-06-29T16:45:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:44:09.064Z","description":"In a rare snub of the Trump Administration, the United Nations failed to approve an American pick to head an international migration group.","url":"https://time.com/5326783/the-united-nations-rejected-president-trumps-pick-for-a-migration-group/","keywords":["Immigration","Foreign Policy","United Nations","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7685e9b9fa0e4be5/69892f678fd2ee8dd335b817/rts1kfov.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Simon","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-simon/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7685e9b9fa0e4be5/69892f678fd2ee8dd335b817/rts1kfov.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"International flags fly in front of The United Nations Headquarters building in New York","caption":"International flags fly in front of The United Nations Headquarters building in New York","creditText":"Brendan McDermid—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5326783/the-united-nations-rejected-president-trumps-pick-for-a-migration-group/","name":"The United Nations Rejected President Trump's Pick for a Migration Group"}}]}] ```