DHS restructures ICE and HSI leadership as White House demands 3,000 daily arrests in new deportation crackdown.

High-Level Shake-Up at ICE and HSI

Leadership at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is undergoing significant changes, according to internal sources. Kenneth Genalo, the acting executive associate director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), is set to retire. Meanwhile, Robert Hammer, the executive associate director of HSI, will be reassigned. Derek Gordon, currently deputy special agent in charge, is expected to step in as acting HSI director.

These personnel shifts are part of a broader structural overhaul described by officials as a “massive realignment” within ICE. Both ICE and HSI declined to provide public comments on the developments.

White House Pressures ICE to Intensify Arrests

The leadership changes follow a tense May 21 meeting at ICE headquarters. During the session, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reportedly demanded an aggressive increase in enforcement, setting a target of 3,000 arrests per day. The meeting marks a turning point in the administration’s immigration strategy, aiming to expedite deportations and tighten operational controls.

As part of the broader enforcement push, ICE officers this week initiated a nationwide campaign targeting migrants attending immigration and asylum hearings. The initiative focuses on individuals who have been in the United States for fewer than two years. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has directed that these migrants' pending immigration cases be dropped, allowing officers to immediately place them into expedited deportation proceedings.

This legal maneuver stems from a requirement in immigration law: individuals with active asylum or immigration cases cannot be subjected to expedited removal. By voluntarily closing these cases, DHS circumvents that restriction and accelerates removal operations.

The restructuring and new enforcement strategies reflect the administration’s intensified efforts to address illegal immigration. Observers note that the success and public reception of this approach may influence broader immigration policy in the months ahead.