Latest news with #KennethGenalo
CBS News
30-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Trump administration shakes up leadership at ICE amid frustrations with arrest, deportation levels
The Trump administration is shaking up Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership amid continued frustrations within the White House about the level of immigration arrests and deportations conducted by the agency, officials announced Thursday. Kenneth Genalo will no longer lead Enforcement and Removal Operations, the ICE branch tasked with carrying out arrests and deportations. Genalo, a longtime ICE official, is retiring and plans to advise agency leaders as a special government employee, officials said. ERO has been spearheading the Trump administration's aggressive and government-wide campaign to ramp up efforts to locate, arrest and deport unauthorized migrants across the country. Meanwhile, Robert Hammer, the head of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations office, was reassigned to another post within the agency that officials described as a "critical leadership position." As the Department of Homeland Security's investigative arm, HSI is a specialized law enforcement agency that has historically focused on combating transnational crime, like child exploitation and human trafficking, but many of its agents have been diverted by the Trump administration to support immigration arrest and deportation efforts. Genalo and Hammer will be replaced by Marcos Charles and Derek Gordon, two career ICE officials, the agency said in a statement Thursday. In that statement, ICE portrayed the changes as a "leadership realignment to support its increasing operational tempo." "Organizational realignments will help ICE achieve President Trump and the American people's mandate of arresting and deporting criminal illegal aliens and making American communities safe," the agency said. ICE leadership has faced intense pressure from the White House to increase arrests of migrants who are living in the U.S. illegally or under one of several temporary immigration programs the Trump administration is seeking to dismantle. Stephen Miller, the White House's deputy chief of staff, said Wednesday on Fox News that the administration is pushing ICE to carry out "a minimum" of 3,000 arrests per day — a target that would amount to an unprecedented expansion of immigration enforcement. In an interview Thursday with CBS News' "The Takeout," White House "border czar" Tom Homan confirmed he wants to "vastly increase" arrests, and argued a 3,000-arrest-per-day target is attainable. "The numbers are good. ... They're a lot better than the Biden administration. But it's not good enough," Homan told CBS News' Major Garrett. Representatives for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. This week's shake-up, first reported by NBC News, is not the first time ICE leadership has changed under the second Trump administration. Caleb Vitello, who President Trump initially tapped to lead ICE, was reassigned in February just a few weeks after being named acting director of the agency. He was replaced by Todd Lyons, a top ICE official who continues to serve as acting director. Immigration
Fox News
29-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
Leadership shake-up coming at ICE, Homeland Security Investigations, sources say
There will soon be a leadership shake-up within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Department of Homeland Security, Fox News has learned. The changes include the retirement of Kenneth Genalo, who currently serves as acting executive associate director of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), sources at the White House and ICE told Fox News. The sources also say that 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. The role changes are only part of a "massive realignment" within ICE, the sources told Fox News. ICE and HSI have not responded to requests for comment. Word of the changes comes just days after White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller reportedly lashed out at top immigration officials at a May 21 meeting in ICE headquarters, Axios reported Wednesday. Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reportedly demanded that ICE start arresting 3,000 people per day as part of the illegal immigration and deportation crackdown. This week, ICE officers also launched a nationwide initiative to begin arresting illegal immigrants at their immigration and asylum hearings. The effort targets illegal immigrants who have been in the U.S. fewer than two years. The DHS strategy is to drop their immigration case, arrest the migrant, then place them into expedited deportation proceedings. The initiative requires the DHS to drop the cases because migrants cannot be put forward for expedited removal if they have a pending case.
CBS News
29-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Trump administration shakes up leadership at ICE amid frustrations with arrest, deportation levels, sources say
The Trump administration is shaking up Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership amid continued frustrations within the White House about the level of immigration arrests and deportations conducted by the agency, three sources familiar with the effort told CBS News Thursday. Kenneth Genalo will no longer lead the ICE branch tasked with carrying out arrests and deportations, Enforcement and Removal Operations, the sources said, requesting anonymity to describe leadership changes that have not been publicly announced. ERO has been spearheading the Trump administration's aggressive and government-wide campaign to ramp up efforts to locate, arrest and deport unauthorized migrants across the country. The sources said Genalo will be retiring. Two of the sources said Robert Hammer will no longer be the head of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations. He is expected to be reassigned to another post within ICE. As the Department of Homeland Security's investigative arm, HSI is a specialized law enforcement agency that has historically focused on combating transnational crime, like child exploitation and human trafficking, but many of its agents have been diverted by the Trump administration to support immigration arrest and deportation efforts. It was not immediately clear who would replace Genalo and Hammer. ICE leadership has faced intense pressure from the White House to increase arrests of migrants who are living in the U.S. illegally or under one of several temporary immigration programs the Trump administration is seeking to dismantle. Stephen Miller, the White House's deputy chief of staff, said Wednesday on Fox News that the administration is pushing ICE to carry out "a minimum" of 3,000 arrests per day — a target that would amount to an unprecedented expansion of immigration enforcement. Representatives for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. This week's shake-up, first reported by NBC News, is not the first time ICE leadership has changed under the second Trump administration. Caleb Vitello, who President Trump initially tapped to lead ICE, was reassigned in February just a few weeks after being named acting director of the agency. He was replaced by Todd Lyons, a top ICE official who continues to serve as acting director.
