Two Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have been removed after a lackluster response to President Donald Trump's edict for mass deportations of illegal immigrants, the New York Post reported. Russel Hott and Peter Berg were demoted from their top spots in ICE enforcement and reassigned.
Trump promised to expel millions of illegal aliens, especially those with criminal records. He has leaned heavily on ICE to do its job of conducting arrests, deportations, and raids.
Unfortunately, Hott and Berg were not up to the task and were removed from the Enforcement and Removal Operations division. Hott was sent to a Washington field office, while Berg was sent to one in Minnesota.
"ICE needs a culture of accountability that it has been starved of for the past four years," a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. It's clear Trump is not letting any bureaucrats get in the way of fulfilling his most important campaign promise.
For too long, ICE has been hamstrung by leftist regimes that benefit from unchecked illegal immigration. With Trump's election and his choice of Tom Homan as border czar, it's clear that there is a new resolve to secure America's borders.
Homan acknowledged that ICE has tripled its migrant arrests, but he expects much more from the organization. "If you look at the rest of interior enforcement, it’s about three times higher than it was a year ago today," Homan said.
"Three times higher is good, but I’m not satisfied," he added. "There are more criminal aliens that need to be arrested, hundreds of thousands," Homan went on.
“Sanctuary cities are putting roadblocks up," Homan said of the Democrat strongholds that refuse to enforce immigration law. "We’ve got leaks," he further charged.
"So we need to increase the arrests of illegal aliens, especially those with criminal convictions. So we’re going to continue," Homan promised. ICE arrests in major cities have already yielded results in finding those accused of sex crimes against children, rape, drug offenses, and gun charges.
Plucking Hott and Berg from their leadership positions at ICE was just the beginning. Tom Lyons, who was previously heading ICE's Boston field office, will take over the top position at the Enforcement and Removal Operations department.
While working as the assistant director of field operations, Lyons recommended reopening the ICE office at Rikers Island prison. The office has been shuttered for almost a decade, but Lyons believes it makes sense to have a presence at the New York facility.
"Reestablishing the [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement] unit at Rikers would allow [En,orcement and Removal Operations] NYC officers to take direct custody of foreign-born criminal offenders without the need to re-apprehend these criminals at large in the community," Lyons pointed out. Surprisingly, New York City Mayor Eric Adams agreed with the measure, a separate Post report noted.
"He would like us to [reopen the ICE office], but he said he’s got to talk to his legal staff about what’s the possibility of him doing that through executive order," Homan said after speaking with Adams. This is significant for a migrant-friendly Demorat-run city.
American cities have been inundated with illegal immigrants and all of the problems that come with them. Trump is fulfilling his promise to the American people to take care of the problem, even if that means demoting high-ranking officials.
