Ex-Border Patrol chief will take reins at ICE
Trump names Obama-era official as part of ‘tougher direction’ on immigration
Trump picks Mark Morgan as part of “tougher direction” on migration
President Donald Trump announced his pick to become the next head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in a tweet Sunday.
Former Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan will take over ICE, the president said. Morgan ran the Border Patrol in the final year of the Obama administration before being replaced when Trump took office.
Morgan has expressed support for Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and defended other parts of the president’s immigration policies as a guest on Fox News.
“I am pleased to inform all of those that believe in a strong, fair and sound Immigration Policy that Mark Morgan will be joining the Trump Administration as the head of our hard working men and women of ICE. Mark is a true believer and American Patriot. He will do a great job!” the president tweeted.
Morgan’s appointment requires Senate confirmation.
Morgan’s appointment is the latest in a series of changes at the Department of Homeland Security as the administration wrestles with an increasing number of migrants – largely Central American families seeking asylum – at the southern border.
DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stepped down last month, saying in her resignation letter that immigration laws “impeded our ability to fully secure America’s borders.”
Last month, Trump withdrew the nomination of Ronald Vitiello to head ICE and declared he wanted to take immigration policies in a “tougher direction.”
ICE, which was established after 9/11 with the core mission of preventing another terrorist attack on the USA, has become a lightning rod for immigration rights activists. Among the agency’s responsibilities are locating and detaining immigrants who entered the USA illegally. Some Democrats have backed activists’ calls for the agency to be eliminated.