Nealon, James Dinneen, 1954-

James Dinneen Nealon Jr. (born 1954) is an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Honduras from 2014 to 2017. After his service as ambassador, he worked in the Department of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2018.

Born and raised in Virginia, Nealon graduated from Brown University in 1980 with a B.A. in American History. Before joining the State Department, he spent a few years as a high school coach and teacher. In 1984, Nealon joined the Foreign Service. His early posts included being an assistant press attaché in the U.S. embassy in Chile, cultural attaché in the embassy in Uruguay and media attaché in the embassies in Hungary and the Philippines. Nealon returned to Hungary as counselor for public affairs and later served in Madrid in the same capacity.

In 2005, Nealon returned to Uruguay as deputy chief of mission (DCM) and chargé d’affaires at the embassy in Montevideo, running the mission in the absence of an ambassador. He took a similar job in Peru in 2007 and was again DCM in Ottawa, Canada beginning in 2010. While in Peru, Nealon wrote a report, later released by WikiLeaks, expressing concern about “anti-system radicals” who might “lay the groundwork for a more systematic assault on the pro-growth model.” In December 2012, President Obama proposed Nealon as the ambassador to Bolivia, but, not surprisingly considering his comments, Nealon was rejected by the Bolivian government.

Nealon was named civilian deputy to the commander and foreign policy advisor to the U.S. Southern Command, based in the Miami area, in 2013. The Southern Command is responsible for U.S. military planning and operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean. Appointed U.S. Ambassador to Honduras on July 22, 2014, he presented his credentials on August 21. He served as Ambassador until June 11, 2017.

After leaving his ambassadorship, Nealon was appointed assistant secretary for international engagement at the Department of Homeland Security by Kelly in July. During his time as assistant secretary, Nealon supported a policy of deploying Homeland Security agents abroad. He resigned his post on February 8, 2018, due to his disagreements with the immigration policy of Donald Trump, and, specifically, the withdrawal of temporary protected status for Hondurans.

Nealon’s wife Kristin, a fellow Brown graduate, teaches English as a second language. They have four children— Rory, Katie, Maureen and Liam— all born overseas while Nealon was on assignment. Nealon speaks Spanish and Hungarian.