Two top Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have been removed from their positions as the White House intensifies pressure on the agency to boost arrests and deportations in line with President Donald Trump’s pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. Russell Hott and Peter Berg, formerly in key roles in ICE’s enforcement division, will now work in the agency’s Washington field office and St. Paul, Minnesota, respectively.
Todd Lyons, former head of ICE’s Boston office, will serve as the acting head of ICE Enforcement and Removal operations. These adjustments were first reported by the Washington Post.
According to DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, ‘ICE requires a culture of accountability that has been lacking for the past four years. We have a President, DHS secretary, and American people who rightly demand results, and our ICE leadership will ensure the agency delivers.’
The shake-up at ICE comes as the president and his top immigration officials grow increasingly frustrated with the current pace of arrests and deportations, along with the release of some migrants due to insufficient detention capacity. While ICE has escalated arrests recently, the Trump administration faces numerous challenges as it strives to swiftly fulfill the president’s mass deportations pledge, a demanding endeavor requiring funding, time, and resources to scale up.
Border Czar Tom Homan remarked, ‘If you look at the rest of interior enforcement, it’s about three times higher than it was a year ago today. Three times higher is good, but I’m not satisfied. There are more criminal aliens that need to be arrested, hundreds of thousands. Sanctuary cities are obstructing us. We’ve got leaks. So we need to increase the arrests of illegal aliens, particularly those with criminal convictions. Hence, we’re going to continue.’
The administration has flooded the airwaves and social media platforms with announcements of enforcement actions by ICE, with White House social media accounts showcasing images of shackled migrants boarding military aircraft and mugshots of detained migrants. In late January, ICE averaged over 800 daily arrests, as per data on X. However, the agency ceased publishing daily arrest figures in the last week.
