President Donald Trump has replaced the head of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), after firing the acting Attorney General for refusing to defend his controversial new immigration policies. The new acting director of ICE is Thomas Homan, who has been the executive associate director of the division known as Enforcement and Removal Operations within the agency.
Homan’s appointment could be a possible sign that the President intends to carry out his election promise to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and put a greater focus on the deportation role with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Last week, Trump signed an executive order calling for the number of deportation agents in the country to be tripled. The previous acting director was Daniel Ragsdale, who is resuming his position as deputy director.
The move comes after Trump fired acting Attorney General, Sally Yates after she refused to defend his divisive executive order, banning the ability of people from several countries to come to the US. The decision to appoint Homan has been praised by the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, John Kelly, in a statement in which he declared his confidence that Homan would be an effective and strong leader for the agency.
The press statement from the Department of Homeland Security says that Homan has served in law enforcement for 33 years, with almost three decades of experience in immigration enforcement.