ICE Announces Major Leadership Changes Amid Trumps Deportation Campaign

Leadership Shakeups at Agency Tasked with Carrying Out Trump’s Mass Deportations Agenda

WASHINGTON — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is undergoing a significant staff reorganization amid President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign. In a news release, ICE announced key leadership changes within its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) divisions.

Kenneth Genalo, the acting director of ERO, is retiring and will serve as a special government employee with ICE. Robert Hammer, the acting head of HSI, will transition to another leadership role at headquarters. Marcos Charles will take over as the new acting head of ERO, while Derek Gordon will lead HSI. Additionally, ICE announced several other staff changes across various departments.

The agency stated that these changes aim to help ICE fulfill President Trump’s mandate of arresting and deporting criminal immigrants to enhance community safety. This announcement follows White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller’s statement on Fox News that the administration aims for 3,000 daily arrests by ICE, potentially increasing further.

Currently, ICE averages 656 arrests per day, significantly lower than the targeted 3,000. The agency faces logistical challenges, including a stagnant number of enforcement and removal officers, limited detention beds, and a constrained number of planes for deportations. However, the administration is seeking a major funding boost in Congress to enhance immigration enforcement, aiming to remove 1 million immigrants annually, house 100,000 in detention centers, and add 10,000 more ICE officers and investigators.