President Donald Trump has removed Caleb Vitello, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, from his position and appointed him to a more enforcement-centered job.
Vitello will remain with ICE and will oversee the enforcement of arrests, targeting, and field operations, NBC News reported.
His removal comes as both Trump and Border Czar Tom Homan have been critical of the rate of deportations and the leaks that have come from the department, though the president’s promised effort to remove million of illegal immigrants is just getting started.
A former ICE official told NBC News that Vitello “grew up in the Enforcement and Removal Operations division” of ICE after he was announced as acting director.
“He knows the complexities and challenges of a broken immigration system,” former ICE Chief of Staff Jason Houser said.
“He’s very even-keeled. I honestly — I can’t think of a single thing that [is] controversial about him. I don’t want to call him a Boy Scout, but he’s as close as it gets,” former acting executive associate director of Enforcement and Removal Operations Corey Price said.
For his part, Homan was furious after details involving a planned Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in Aurora, Colo., were allegedly leaked earlier this month.
Homan provided more information about the purported leak during an interview with Fox News host Harris Faulkner and was clearly not happy about the incident while also vowing to act in response.
“We’ve already identified how this operation got leaked. I’ll deal with that today,” Homan said.
He added that ICE is working closely with the Department of Justice and that Homeland Security may start prosecuting those who get in the way of the agency’s operations. “This is not a game. This a dangerous job,” he said. “To have this top of interference puts the officers at great risk.”
The leaked operation comes as some Democrats also appear to be overtly interfering in ICE’s operations.
Democrat New York Rep. Dan Goldman is among those who are under scrutiny for how he advised people to avoid the agency’s raids.
“Every New Yorker has rights when they interact with immigration enforcement,” he said in a post on X. “No matter what the next four years bring, stay informed, stay safe, and stay together.”
“No matter what the next four years bring, stay informed, stay safe, and stay together,” he said in the caption of a video he shared.
“The Trump administration has carried out deportations, raids all across the country, including here in New York City,” he said in the video. “These are certainly uncertain times, but no matter what, it’s important that you know your rights when interacting with law enforcement.”
He went on to give instructions on “mak[ing] a plan for ICE encounters” along with information on pro bono legal representation if they are detained.
“President Trump has a well-documented pattern of abusing his power by detaining American citizens and legal residents,” Goldman spokesperson Madison Andrus falsely claimed in an interview with the Daily Caller. “The Congressman will always provide his constituents with information to protect them from extrajudicial threats and intimidation, and only someone who supports the use of threats and intimidation would take issue with him doing so.”
A spokesperson for ICE said that American citizens are not subject to arrest but may be detained pending identification.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement may encounter U.S. citizens while conducting fieldwork and may request identification to establish an individual’s identity,” the person said to The Caller.
In December, Homan spoke to the outlet as well, explaining his role and the administration’s focus on ensuring immigration law compliance.
“There are federal statutes on the books for knowingly concealing and harboring an illegal alien away from ICE officers. There are statutes on the books about impeding federal law enforcement officers – they’re all felonies,” Homan said.
