ICE officials in major cities replaced with Border Patrol

WASHINGTON- The Trump administration is launching a leadership shakeup at a dozen Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices to implement more aggressive enforcement operations across the United States.

Some of the outgoing ICE field office directors are expected to be replaced by Customs and Border Protection leaders, according to media reports. Among the executives targeted for replacement are Ernesto Santacruz, director of the Los Angeles field office, and Patrick Divver, director of the San Diego field office, the Washington Examiner reported Monday.

The increased role of Border Patrol leaders in domestic enforcement — which has always been ICE’s territory — marks an evolution of tactics originating in California.

In late December, Gregory Bovino, who heads the Border Patrol’s El Centro region, led a three-day raid in rural Kern County, arresting day laborers more than 300 miles from his usual territory. Former Biden administration officials said Bovino went “rogue” and that no agency leaders knew about the operation in advance.

Bovino used the spectacle to become the on-the-ground point person for the Trump administration’s signature issue.

The three-decade Border Patrol veteran, who has used slick social media videos to promote the agency’s heavy-handed tactics, has brought militarized operations once primarily used at the border to America’s biggest cities.

This summer in Los Angeles, contingents of heavily armed and masked officers began chasing and arresting day laborers, street vendors and car wash workers. Tensions increased when the administration ordered the creation of the National Guard.

The efforts appear to have become more aggressive after a Supreme Court order allowed authorities to arrest people based on factors including race or ethnicity, employment and knowledge of Spanish.

Bovino moved its operations to Chicago and intensified its approach. Immigration agents launched a nighttime raid on a crowded apartment, fired gas into the crowd of protesters and shot one man dead.

Bovino is now expected to select some of the replacements in ICE field offices, according to Fox News.

Tom Wong, who directs the American Immigration Policy Center at the University of San Diego, said the leadership changes are not surprising, given Bovino’s strategies in Los Angeles and Chicago.

“The Trump administration is blurring the distinction between Border Patrol and ICE,” he said. “The border is no longer limited to the external borders of the United States, but is everywhere. »

Former Homeland Security officials have said the large-scale replacement of one agency’s leaders with those of another agency is unprecedented.

The two agencies have similar powers but very different approaches, said Daniel Altman, former head of internal oversight investigations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

ICE agents operate largely domestically, rely heavily on investigations and generally know when they leave for the day who they are targeting.

The Border Patrol, on the other hand, patrols border areas looking for anyone they encounter and is suspected of entering illegally. Amid the rugged terrain and isolation, Border Patrol has built a do-it-yourself philosophy within the century-old organization, Altman said.

“Culturally, the Border Patrol prides itself on being a problem solver, which means that whatever the current administration needs or wants when it comes to immigration enforcement, they are generally very willing and able to do it,” Altman said.

White House leaders are not happy with the number of arrests. Stephen Miller, President Trump’s deputy chief of staff who leads his immigration initiatives, set a goal of 3,000 immigrant apprehensions per day, which the agency has been unable to meet.

DHS says it expects to expel 600,000 people by January, a figure that includes people who were turned away at the border or airports.

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, neither confirmed nor denied the changes but described immigration officials as united.

“Talk about sensationalism,” she said. “Only the media would call the usual personnel changes in agencies a “massive reshuffle.” If and when we have specific personnel movements to announce, we will do so.

White House Press Secretary Abigail Jackson said, “The President’s entire team is working closely to implement the President’s policy agenda, and the tremendous results achieved from securing the border to deporting criminal illegal aliens speak for themselves. »

Tuesday on Fox News, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said the administration was determined to secure record expulsions, mostly of immigrants with criminal records.

“As far as personnel changes go, that falls under the purview of the Secretary of Homeland Security,” he said. “I’m in the White House and working with people like Stephen Miller, one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met, to develop policies and strategic plans – how to get success, how to sustain it, and how to grow the numbers.”

Deborah Fleischaker, a former ICE and DHS official under the Biden administration, said the personnel moves appear to be an “attempt to migrate a Border Patrol philosophy to ICE.”

“ICE’s work has historically focused on targeting and suppressing threats to public safety,” she said. “The Border Patrol has a much more militarized job of securing the border, protecting against transnational crime, drug trafficking and smuggling. This type of approach has no place in our cities and is quite dangerous.”

Fleischaker said it would be difficult to increase expulsions, even with Border Patrol leaders at the helm, because of the complexity of obtaining travel documents and negotiating with countries reluctant to accept deportees.

Meanwhile, she added, hijacking the country’s valued leaders would hurt morale.

“For those who are still here, everyone knows you comply or you risk losing your job,” she said. “Dissent, not meeting goals or even asking questions is not really tolerated. »

On Tuesday, DHS posted a video montage of Bovino on its Instagram page set to the song “Viva la vida” by Coldplay. The caption read: “WE WILL NOT BE ARRESTED. »

Staff writer Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.