The Trump administration is reportedly implementing leadership changes at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) due to ongoing dissatisfaction within the White House regarding the agency’s levels of immigration arrests and deportations, according to three sources familiar with the matter who spoke to CBS News on Thursday.
Kenneth Genalo will no longer head the ICE branch responsible for carrying out arrests and deportations, known as Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), the sources indicated, requesting anonymity as these leadership changes have not been officially announced. ERO has been at the forefront of the Trump administration’s government-wide initiative to intensify efforts aimed at locating, apprehending, and deporting unauthorized immigrants across the country. Sources have stated that Genalo will be retiring from his position.
Two of the sources also reported that Robert Hammer will be stepping down from his role as the head of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). He is expected to be reassigned to a different position within ICE. HSI, as the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, is a specialized law enforcement agency that has historically concentrated on combating transnational crimes such as child exploitation and human trafficking. However, under the Trump administration, many of its agents have been redirected to support immigration enforcement efforts, including arrests and deportations.
It was not immediately clear who would be appointed to replace Genalo and Hammer in their respective leadership roles.
ICE leadership has reportedly been under significant pressure from the White House to increase the number of arrests of immigrants residing in the U.S. illegally or those under temporary immigration programs that the Trump administration is seeking to terminate. Stephen Miller, the White House’s deputy chief of staff, stated on Fox News on Wednesday that the administration is urging ICE to conduct “a minimum” of 3,000 arrests each day — a target that would represent an unprecedented expansion of immigration enforcement activities.
Representatives from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding these reported leadership changes.
This week’s reported reshuffle, initially reported by NBC News, marks another instance of leadership changes at ICE under the second Trump administration. Caleb Vitello, President Trump’s initial choice to lead ICE, was reassigned in February, just weeks after being appointed as the acting director of the agency. He was succeeded by Todd Lyons, a high-ranking ICE official who continues to serve as the acting director.
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