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ICE Leadership Shakeup Exposed Growing Fractures Within Homeland Security Department

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is undergoing a sweeping leadership shakeup within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as tensions rise over how aggressively the agency should pursue deportations.

According to four senior DHS officials, the changes affect ICE field offices in at least eight major cities, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Denver, Portland, Philadelphia, El Paso, and New Orleans. Many of those posts will now be filled by Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials โ€” a move insiders describe as an unprecedented realignment of power within the department.

The overhaul underscores growing divisions within DHS over deportation priorities. One faction, led by Border Czar Tom Homan and ICE Director Todd Lyons, favors focusing enforcement on criminal aliens and those with final deportation orders. Another group โ€” including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, senior adviser Corey Lewandowski, and Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino โ€” has pushed for a broader, more assertive approach to immigration enforcement, arguing that all individuals in the country illegally should be subject to removal.

โ€œICE started off with the worst of the worst, knowing every target they are hitting, but since Border Patrol came to LA in June, weโ€™ve lost our focus, going too hard, too fast, with limited prioritization,โ€ one senior DHS official told Fox News. โ€œItโ€™s getting numbers, but at what cost?โ€

Another official put it more bluntly:

โ€œICE is arresting criminal aliens. They [Border Patrol] are hitting Home Depots and car washes.โ€

Border Patrol agents have defended the expanded strategy, saying it reflects the mandate voters expected from the Trump administrationโ€™s promise to restore border security and enforce immigration law.

โ€œWhat did everyone think mass deportations meant? Only the worst?โ€ one Border Patrol agent told Fox News. โ€œTom Homan has said it himself โ€” anyone in the U.S. illegally is on the table.โ€

A DHS spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, said in a statement that while there are no formal announcements of personnel changes, โ€œthe Trump administration remains laser focused on delivering results and removing violent criminal illegal aliens from this country.โ€

Broader Context: Trump Administrationโ€™s Enforcement Push

The leadership reshuffle comes as deportation numbers remain below internal targets set earlier this year, according to DHS officials. The Trump administration has emphasized that its immigration enforcement policies are designed to uphold the rule of law and deter illegal border crossings โ€” a key promise from the 2016 campaign that continues to resonate with many Republican voters.

Former President Donald Trump and his allies have long argued that consistent enforcement, rather than selective deportations, strengthens national security and discourages future unlawful entry. Many GOP leaders, including members of Congress and state governors, have defended the administrationโ€™s approach as necessary to restore deterrence and public safety after what they describe as years of lax border control.

Supporters point to prior surges in illegal crossings as evidence that limited enforcement under past administrations only encouraged more unlawful migration. They also note that under Trump, ICE was instructed to prioritize criminal offenders but retain authority to arrest any undocumented immigrant encountered during operations.

The shakeup โ€” replacing ICE field chiefs with seasoned Border Patrol leaders โ€” signals the administrationโ€™s intent to centralize authority and speed up deportations ahead of new immigration enforcement goals expected later this year.

โ€œThese moves are about accountability and results,โ€ one DHS official said. โ€œWeโ€™re not changing direction โ€” weโ€™re doubling down.โ€

Federal Judge Finds Probable Cause To Hold Trump In Contempt

A federal judge said Wednesday that he has found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in contempt for failing to return two planes deporting migrants to El Salvador last month.

In the 48-page opinion, Judge Boasberg said the court had ultimately determined that the Trump administrationโ€™s actions on the March 15 deportation flights, which took place after he issued a bench ruling ordering their immediate return to U.S. soil, demonstrate a “willful disregard” for the court that is sufficient for the government to be found in criminal contempt.”

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the Justice Department in a filing Wednesday to answer additional questions by April 23 if they want to “purge” the contempt.

Fox News reports:

That would involve identifying the individuals responsible for what he described as “contumacious conduct,” and by “determining whose โ€˜specific act or omissionโ€™ caused the noncompliance,” Boasberg said. 

The Justice Department could then request that the contempt be prosecuted by an attorney for the government and, should they decline to prosecute the matter, could “appoint another attorney to prosecute the contempt.”

“The Court does not reach such conclusion lightly or hastily; indeed, it has given Defendants ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions,” the judge continued. “None of their responses has been satisfactoryโ€ฆ”

“As this Opinion will detail, the Court ultimately determines that the Governmentโ€™s actions on that day demonstrate a willful disregard for its Order, sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt,” Boasberg said Wednesday.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Supreme Court Rules Wrongfully Deported Man Must Return To US

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Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, aย Salvadoran national living in Maryland,ย from an El Salvador prison.

Abrego Garcia, 29, was deported to the El Salvadoran mega-prison last month for being an allegedย MS-13 gang member,ย however, his attorneys maintain he does not have any gang ties. Garcia’s wrongful deportation has triggered an onslaught of criticisms from both sides of the aisle. (RELATED: IRS, DHS Reach Game-Changing Agreement For Trump Immigration Agenda)

The Supreme Court sided with U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis who initially ordered federal officials to coordinate Garcia’s return back to Maryland in a Monday order, calling his deportation “wholly unlawful.”

Fox News reports:

“On March 15, 2025, the United States removed Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia from the United States to El Salvador, where he is currently detained in the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT),” the order states. “The United States acknowledges that Abrego Garcia was subject to a withholding order forbidding his removal to El Salvador, and that the removal to El Salvador was therefore illegal.” 

Justice Sonia Sotomayor said she “would have declined to intervene in this litigation and denied the application in full.”

“Nevertheless, I agree with the Courtโ€™s order that the proper remedy is to provide Abrego Garcia with all the processes to which he would have been entitled had he not been unlawfully removed to El Salvador,” Sotomayor wrote. “That means the Government must comply with its obligation to provide Abrego Garcia with โ€˜due process of law,โ€™ including notice and an opportunity to be heard, in any future proceedings.”

The Justice Department responded to the order in a statement to Fox News in a statement. 

“As the Supreme Court correctly recognized, it is the exclusive prerogative of the President to conduct foreign affairs,” the statement says. “By directly noting the deference owed to the Executive Branch, this ruling once again illustrates that activist judges do not have the jurisdiction to seize control of the Presidentโ€™s authority to conduct foreign policy.”

Obama Appointee Blocks Trump Immigration Order

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This is far from over…

A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration fromย revoking the legal statusย and work permits of the more than 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who flew into the United States during former President Joe Biden’s time in office.ย 

The migrants came to the U.S. under Biden’s controversial CHNV mass humanitarian parole program.

In her order, Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, wrote that each migrant needs to have an individualized, case-by-case review.

“The Termination of Parole Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, 90 Fed. Reg. 13611 (Mar. 25, 2025), is hereby STAYED pending further court order insofar as it revokes, without case-by-case review, the previously granted parole and work authorization issued to noncitizens paroled into the UnitedStates pursuant to parole programs for noncitizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (the “CHNV parole programs”) prior to the noncitizenโ€™s originally stated parole end date,” she wrote.ย 

Biden created the CHNV program in 2023 via his executive parole authority. The program was launched in 2022 and initially first applied to Venezuelans before it was expanded to additional countries.

The Biden administration argued that CHNV would help reduce illegal crossings at the southern border and allow better vetting of people entering the country amid an influx of migrants. 

The program was temporarily paused due to widespread fraud.

Officials with theย Department of Homeland Securityย and the Trump administration told Fox News that Talwani essentially ruled that Trump can’t use his own executive authority, the same authority Biden used, toย revoke the parole that Biden granted.ย 

“It is pure lawless tyranny,” a Trump administration official told Fox News. 

In March, the roughly 532,000 migrants under the CHNV program were told to leave the U.S.ย 

Former First Lady Reveals The Trump Policy That ‘Keeps Her Awake At Night’

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FLOTUS at Fayetteville, N.C. -The Arts Center speech Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian

Former first ladyย Michelle Obamaย expressed fear over Presidentย Donald Trump’s immigration policies, saying they have kept her up at night.ย 

“Now that we have leadership that is sort of indiscriminately determining who belongs and who doesn’t,” the former first lady said Monday during an appearance on the podcast “On Purpose with Jay Shetty,” adding that such deportation decisions “aren’t being made with courts and with due process.” 

“I worry for people of color all over this country, and I don’t know that we will have the advocates to protect everybody,” she continued. “And that makes me โ€ฆ that frightens me. It keeps me up at night.” 

“And I and I see that when I’m driving around LA. I’m just looking in the faces of folks who could be a victim and I’m wondering, how are you feeling, how do you feel standing on the bus stop,” she said. 

“In this current climate, for me itโ€™s whatโ€™s happening to immigrants,” Obama said when asked about “recent tests of fear” related to individuals facing discrimination over the color of their skin. 

Obama noted that the “fear” does not personally impact her as a former first lady who has police protection. 

“Itโ€™s not the fear for myself anymore,” she continued. “I drive around in a four-car motorcade with a police escort. Iโ€™m Michelle Obama. I do still worry about my daughters in the world, even though they are somewhat recognizable.”

“My fears are for what I know is happening out there in streets all over the city,” she added, referring to her hometown of Chicago. 

During a Monday White House briefing to discuss border enforcement during President Donald Trumpโ€™s first hundred days border czar Tom Homan said that under Trump, unlawful crossings were โ€œhistorically lowโ€ and that the border was the most secure it has ever been. Homan drew a sharp contrast to the record number of illegal immigrants that entered the United States under the Biden administration.

โ€œEvery president I ever worked for took border security seriously because you canโ€™t have national security if you donโ€™t have strong border security,โ€ Homan said. โ€œEven President Obama and President Clinton took some steps to secure the border because they understood national security was important. Joe Biden is the first president in the history of this nation who came into office and unsecured a border on purpose. Thatโ€™s just a fact.โ€

Homan accused the Biden administration of weaponizing its immigration policies, motivated by the desire that a future Democrat president would give illegal immigrants released into the country amnesty, saying Biden was โ€œselling this country off for future political power.โ€

Watch:

Contrasting Biden and Trump, Homan said that between 11,000-15,000 people were crossing the border illegally per day this time of the year under Biden, while under Trump, just 178 had crossed in the last 24 hours. During the same time, he said there were 1,800 known โ€œgotawaysโ€ under Biden, compared to just 38 under Trump. Homan added that from January 20 to April 1, 2024, Biden released 184,000 illegals out of federal custody into the country. The Trump administration has only released nine total, including four so they could testify in criminal cases and four with extreme medical conditions.

In total, Homan said that there have been 139,000 deportations under Trump. He added that the administration was prioritizing the estimated 700,000 illegals who have been charged with crimes.

Border Wall Supplies Sold Off By Biden To Be Returned To Trumpย Admin

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Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

Sections of the U.S. border wall that had been auctioned off by the Biden administration will reportedly be returned to the Trump administration to support Trump’s “border protection plans.”

The Daily Wire previously reported that the Biden administrationย sold offย portions of the border wall in Arizona for pennies on the dollar in December, just one month before Trump reentered office in a move that critics called an attempt to hamstring the new administration. Now, those materials will be handed back over to the federal government.

GovPlanet, the government supply auctioning site that listed the border wall materials, says that it will expedite the return of the materials to the federal government, citing its support for the Trump administrationโ€™s border security plans.

โ€œGovPlanet has reached an agreement, working with the Office of the Border Czar, to return border wall materials that were previously deemed surplus and sourced by the federal government to GovPlanet via existing contracts,โ€ the company explained. โ€œWe are expediting the transfer of these materials to support the administrationโ€™s border protection plans.โ€

Construction continues on new border wall system project near Yuma, AZ. Recently constructed border wall near Yuma, Arizona on June 3, 2020. CBP photo by Jerry Glaser.

The sale of the border wall materials, Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) told The Daily Wire, was an attempt by the Biden administration to hamstring the Trump administration.

โ€œThe Biden Administration is well aware they shouldnโ€™t have reversed the construction of the border wall. If itโ€™s true, theyโ€™re purposefully hamstringing an incoming president, it wouldnโ€™t be shocking,โ€ Crane charged. โ€œWhy would they want to see President Trump succeed with policies they aggressively sabotaged?โ€

The Republican Congressman from Arizona called the sale โ€œa direct affront to the will of the people,โ€ who had given President Trump a mandate to secure the border just a month before The Daily Wire broke the news of the auctions.

The materials will now be handed over to a firm that has been contracted by the government to build the wall, GovPlanet says. โ€œWe value our longstanding partnership with the U.S. government and look forward to continuing to support Americaโ€™s federal agencies,โ€ GovPlanet added. โ€œA third-party firm that has been contracted for construction of the border wall will take receipt of the materials over the next 90 days.โ€

GovPlanet also said that the supplies will be returned to the federal government โ€œat-costโ€ in order to โ€œprotect the millions of dollars that U.S. taxpayers had already invested in this initiative.โ€

Haitian Gang Member Shouts โ€˜F*ck Trump,โ€™ Thanks Obama’ During Deportation: Watch

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Illegal Immigration in the United State via Wikimedia Commons

*This article contains graphic language*

Shocking footage…

A Haitian gang member was recorded by Fox News praising former Presidentsย Joe Bidenย andย Barack Obama as he was arrested by ICE for deportation this week.

Fox News filmed several illegal aliens being arrested by ICE in Boston this week as the agency carried out Trumpโ€™s illegal immigration crackdown just days after his inauguration.

โ€œIโ€™m not going back to Haiti!โ€ one man could be heard screaming as he was arrested by ICE agents. โ€œFuck Trump! You feel me? Yo, Biden forever, bro! Thank Obama for everything that he did for me, bro!โ€

ICE told Fox News that the man in question was a gang member from Haiti with โ€œseventeen criminal convictions in recent years.โ€

Fox News also recorded the arrest of a Salvadorian illegal alien who had previously been โ€œcharged locally with rape,โ€ but was quickly โ€œreleased by sanctuary jurisdiction,โ€ as well as an illegal alien from Brazil wanted for armed robbery and a Dominican illegal alien who had been charged with drug trafficking and assault with a deadly weapon.

In another moment captured by Fox News, ICE agents arrested an MS-13 gang member for gun charges, as well as his roommate, who was also found to be living in the United States illegally.

โ€œICE says he was released from local custody just the day before,โ€ reported Fox News on the MS-13 gang member. โ€œTheir detainer request was ignored because of sanctuary policies.โ€

The Trump administration has started flying immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally out of the country using military aircraft, a White House spokesperson said Friday.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared photos on the social media site X of individuals in handcuffs boarding a military plane.

โ€œDeportation flights have begun,โ€ Leavitt said. โ€œPresident Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences.โ€

This week, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan announced ICE had made over 1,000 arrests while carrying out deportation orders.

DeSantis Opens โ€˜Deportation Depotโ€™ in Florida a Day After Alligator Alcatraz Court Victory

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Ron DeSantis via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Florida Gov.ย Ron DeSantisย has opened โ€œDeportation Depotโ€ migrant detention center in Florida, a follow-up to the embattled โ€œAlligator Alcatraz.โ€

โ€œDeportation Depotโ€ is located about 45 miles away from Jacksonville in the community of Sanderson, at the site of the Baker Correctional Institution.

The facility has the capacity for 1,500 detainees,ย Fox News reported. As of Friday, a little over 100 migrants had been moved there.

DeSantis said last month that he moved to begin work on a new facility to fulfill an urgent need for more shelter for illegal migrants as theyโ€™re rounded up by ICE agents throughout the state.

โ€œThere is a demand for this,โ€ DeSantis told reporters at the time. โ€œIโ€™m confident that it will be filled.โ€

The opening of the new facility came a day after the $250 million โ€œAlligator Alcatrazโ€ was granted a rare win by an appeals court.

The detention center was ordered to ship out all detainees and close within 60 days.ย The rulingย by Judgeย Kathleen M. Williamsย stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the Friends of the Everglades and the Miccosukee Tribe that accused the Sunshine State of violating the National Environmental Policy Act.

A stay on Williamsโ€™ ruling was granted by a three-judge panel in Atlanta on Thursday, pending an appeal. โ€œAlligator Alcatrazโ€ can continue holding detainees for now.

In a video posted on his X account Thursday, DeSantis declared: โ€œThe mission continues on immigration enforcement.โ€

Until yesterday, โ€œAlligator Alcatrazโ€ faced a series of legal and PR losses, with some detainees alleging mistreatment.

Supreme Court Allows Trump Admin To Move Ahead With Ending Protected Status For Some Migrants

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Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

On Monday, the Supreme Court lifted an injunction against the Trump administration, allowing it to move ahead with its plans to end protections for hundreds of thousands of migrants in the U.S.

The decision is a victory for the Trump administration, allowing it to move forward with its plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protections for hundreds of thousands of people who came to the U.S. through parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans. 

The TPS program provides legal status and work permits for these individuals.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Trump Administration Delivers Historic Border Security Win โ€” Lowest Apprehensions Since 1970

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Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

The Trump administration has closed fiscal year 2025 with a historic milestone on border security โ€” the lowest U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions in more than five decades, according to preliminary enforcement data released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Border agents recorded 237,565 apprehensions in fiscal year 2025 โ€” slightly above the 201,780 apprehensions in 1970 but dramatically below recent levels. The numbers represent an 87% drop compared to the average of the past four fiscal years (1.86 million apprehensions) and showcase what can happen when the federal government finally enforces immigration laws.

This achievement came even though 72% of this yearโ€™s total apprehensions happened during the final 111 days of the Biden administration โ€” before President Trump returned to office and immediately began reversing his predecessorโ€™s โ€œopen-borderโ€ policies.

โ€œFiscal year 2025 shows what happens when we enforce the law without compromise,โ€ said CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott. โ€œFor too long, agents and officers were handcuffed by failed policies. Today they are empowered to do their jobs โ€” and the result is the most secure border in modern history.โ€


Reversing Bidenโ€™s Border Chaos

When President Trump took office in January 2025, he inherited what many described as a border crisis fueled by Bidenโ€™s mass-release policies. In just the first 111 days of the fiscal year, under Bidenโ€™s watch, 172,026 apprehensions occurred โ€” nearly three-quarters of the yearโ€™s total.

But once Trumpโ€™s immigration directives took effect, the situation changed dramatically. Over the next 254 days, apprehensions plummeted to 65,539 โ€” just 27% of the fiscal yearโ€™s total.

September 2025 alone saw only about 279 apprehensions per day along the Southwest border โ€” a staggering 95% decline compared to the Biden-era daily average of 5,110. It also marked the fifth consecutive month of zero illegal immigrant releases by Border Patrol โ€” a stark contrast to 9,144 releases in September 2024.

Across all entry points, CBP recorded roughly 26,000 total encounters in September, down 89% from Bidenโ€™s monthly averages.


Strong Action From Day One

President Trump wasted no time taking decisive action to reestablish border control:

  • Deployed additional personnel to the southern border.
  • Ended โ€œcatch-and-releaseโ€, ensuring illegal migrants are no longer released while awaiting hearings.
  • Shut down Bidenโ€™s CBP One app parole loophole, later repurposing the app to help migrants self-deport.
  • Paused parole programs and authorized ICE to cancel parole statuses.
  • Ordered strict enforcement of existing immigration laws, restoring morale and authority to frontline border agents.

These policies stand in sharp contrast to Bidenโ€™s approach, which relied on controversial โ€œparoleโ€ programs and insisted on new legislation instead of acting on existing laws.