On Monday, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Thomas Homan, announced that he intends to retire from government. In a statement, Homan said it had been an honor to lead ICE and its staff for over a year and that it was a bittersweet decision to retire after more than 34 years of federal service, but that it was time to focus on his family.
Homan has fiercely defended the immigration policies pursued by the Trump administration during his time as acting ICE director. The career law enforcement officer was the public face of the aggressive efforts to increase immigration enforcement spearheaded by the administration. He often defended the arrest of undocumented immigrants by his agents at press conferences while attacking the policies of so-called ‘sanctuary cities’ and calling for stricter enforcement.
An ICE official said that Homan was originally going to retire in January 2017 but decided to stay on as acting director of the agency when asked to by John Kelly, the then Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The official added that Homan was asked to remain last fall because a nominee had not been found by the administration.
But, Homan finally told the Department of Homeland Security early in 2018 that he intended to retire by the summer and will remain in the post for the next few months to assist with planning the transition to his successor.