Trump Admin Cleans House At ICE, Replaces Field Bosses With Border Patrol Veterans
The Trump administration has begun eliminating Immigration and Customs Enforcement field leaders across the country, reassigning many of them and placing Border Patrol veterans in high-level positions to facilitate arrests.
Nearly half of ICE’s 25 field office directors have been replaced, with replacements coming from elsewhere within DHS, including the Border Patrol, which has already been integrated into ICE operations in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, the Associated Press reported. The Washington Examiner first identified five cities — Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix and San Diego — where leaders were removed and reassigned Friday, and more changes are expected. (RELATED: ‘Bad Hombres’: Jessica Tarlov Admits NYC Anti-ICE Protesters Were Wrong)
“While we have no personnel changes to announce at this time, the Trump administration remains focused on delivering results and removing violent criminal illegal aliens from this country,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News.
TOPSHOT – Federal agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) board an armored vehicle driving slowly on Wilshire Boulevard near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, California, July 7, 2025. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
The shakeup is the third major overhaul of ICE leadership this year, amid pressure from the White House to meet aggressive deportation goals. Axios has documented previous ousters of top ICE officials after its aides set a goal of 3,000 arrests per day; The measures extend that push by installing Border Patrol chiefs long associated with faster, broader operations.
Fox News, citing senior DHS officials, reported that the latest round affects at least eight offices and represents an “unprecedented power shift” within the department. Officials described internal friction over priorities — some advocating broader arrests to boost numbers and others arguing for a narrower focus on criminals and hard cases — even as field leaders are replaced and reassigned.
The Examiner named dismissed field directors in several cities and said Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons opposed firing them outright, leading to reassignments. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has the final say on personnel moves, and more exchanges are expected as the administration leans further into its deportation campaign.
The department touted mass deportations throughout Trump’s second term, most recently claiming that more than 2 million people had “departed the United States” within 250 days.
