Trump Administration Shakes Up ICE Leadership Amid Struggle to Meet Deportation Goals

The Trump administration has made significant changes to the leadership of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), amidst efforts to increase deportations and meet the president's goal of removing 1 million unauthorized immigrants in his first year. Robert Hammer, the acting head of Homeland Security Investigations, has been reassigned, and Kenneth Genalo, the acting chief of enforcement and removal operations, will be retiring. The leadership changes come as the administration struggles to meet earlier arrest quotas, which were set at 1,200 to 1,500 per day. Current quotas have been increased to a minimum of 3,000 arrests per day.

Key Takeaways:

• The Trump administration has reshuffled the leadership of ICE, with Derek Gordon replacing Robert Hammer as the head of Homeland Security Investigations, and Marcos Charles taking over as acting chief of enforcement and removal operations.
• The leadership changes are a response to the administration's frustration with not meeting earlier arrest quotas, which were set at 1,200 to 1,500 per day, but have since been increased to a minimum of 3,000 arrests per day.
• The administration has invoked a rarely used wartime law to deport alleged gang members without a hearing, with congressional Republicans seeking to infuse billions of dollars to increase the scale of Trump's mass deportation goals.
• ICE has struggled to keep pace with the earlier arrest quotas, with DHS reporting over 66,000 arrests in Trump's first 100 days, averaging more than 660 arrests per day.
• Former DHS officials have expressed frustration with the administration's expectations, stating that "there's no one that can meet the expectations that are being put on them by the administration."

Statistics:

• 66,000: The number of arrests made by ICE in Trump's first 100 days (April).
• 660: The average number of arrests made per day by ICE in Trump's first 100 days.
• 100: The number of days considered in the assessment of ICE's arrest performance in Trump's first 100 days.
• 1,200 to 1,500: The number of daily arrest quotas set earlier by the administration.
• 3,000: The minimum number of daily arrests targeted by the administration in its latest quotas.
• Billions: The amount of dollars sought by congressional Republicans to support Trump's mass deportation goals.

Sources:

• Marianne LeVine, "Trump administration shakes up ICE leadership as Trump eyes deportation goal," CNN, June 2018.
• Maria Sacchetti, "Trump administration's goal: Deport a million in one year," The Boston Globe, June 2018.