The White House has initiated a big leadership shakeup at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency after demonstrating unhappiness with the rate at which illegal aliens are being deported from the U.S.
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At a meeting at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in Washington earlier this month, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and top Trump aide Stephen Miller gave ICE leadership a dressing down, demanding that deportations increase from its current 650 arrests a day to 3,000 a day, according to Axios.
“President Trump is going to keep pushing to get that number up higher each and every single day,” Miller stated.
That goal is currently unachievable, given ICE staffing levels and the limited space in detention facilities. But the Big, Beautiful Bill currently being considered would give ICE a massive infusion of funding to hire enough agents and build more detention facilities.
“The House Judiciary bill includes substantial new funding for ICE, with $45 billion allocated for detention and related operations, including building new detention centers. Additionally, $27 billion is earmarked for enforcement and deportation operations, along with funding to hire an additional 10,000 ICE officers over five years,” reports Immigration Impact.
ICE has switched tactics and is now arresting illegals when they show up for their immigration or asylum hearing. The strategy is that if their cases are dropped, they can immediately be arrested and given expedited deportation.
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Still, the logistical challenges facing ICE are formidable.
There are a limited number of enforcement and removal officers — those tasked with tracking down, arresting and removing people in the country illegally — and the number of officers has remained stagnant for years. ICE also has a limited number of detention beds to hold people once arrested and a limited number of planes to remove them from the country.
But the administration is pushing for a major funding boost as part of a package in Congress that could supercharge immigration enforcement. The plan would aim to fund the removal of 1 million immigrants annually and house 100,000 people in detention centers. The plan also calls for 10,000 more ICE officers and investigators.
As part of the shakeup, Kenneth Genalo, who currently serves as acting executive associate director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), is retiring. Also, Robert Hammer, executive associate director of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), is being reassigned. Current deputy special agent in charge Derek Gordon is expected to take over as acting HSI director, while Marcos Charles will become the new acting head of ERO.
These changes are just the tip of the iceberg.
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Russell Hott and Peter Berg, who held top positions in the enforcement division of ICE, will return, respectively, to the agency’s Washington field office and to St. Paul, Minnesota.
Todd Lyons, who previously ran the agency’s Boston office, will take over as acting head of ICE Enforcement and Removal operations, the people said. The changes were first reported by the Washington Post.
“ICE needs a culture of accountability that it has been starved of for the past four years. We have a President, DHS secretary, and American people who rightfully demand results, and our ICE leadership will ensure the agency delivers,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Most government bureaucracies don’t experience this kind of private-sector shakeup. It could definitely eliminate complacency and put the rest of the ICE leadership on notice that they are being watched and evaluated on achieving the deportation goals of the administration.
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