Trump removes acting ICE director as administration seeks to ramp up deportations

The administration has ousted the head of the government’s deportation force, reportedly because President Trump was upset with the slow pace of deportations.

Caleb Vitello had been Mr. Trump’s pick in December to take over as acting director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but the president became disillusioned that his promise of “mass deportations” has not yet materialized.

ICE said Mr. Vitello has been reassigned.

“He is no longer in an administrative role, but is overseeing all field and enforcement operations: finding, arresting, and deporting illegal aliens, which is a major priority of the president and Secretary [Kristi] Noem,” the agency told news outlets.

The numbers suggest deportations were actually down slightly in Mr. Trump’s first month in office compared to President Biden’s final months.

ICE data indicates the agency deported about 640 people a day between Jan. 16 and Feb. 14, which is a close approximation of Mr. Trump’s first weeks in office. By contrast, Mr. Biden’s team averaged about 840 people a day from Nov. 21 through Jan. 16.

Mexican officials also reported last week that repatriations from the U.S. had dropped from 570 a day in 2024 to 499 a day in the first four weeks under Mr. Trump.

That’s partly because the border numbers have dropped, meaning there are fewer new arrivals who can be quickly ousted.

Deporting people from the interior takes much more effort, often requiring ICE officers to send teams out into communities to make arrests, then go through a more extensive deportation process.

The administration had sought to expand its interior efforts by deputizing other federal law enforcement agencies to help enforce immigration law.

That includes the U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Prisons, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Ms. Noem last week also deputized agents from the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service.

In addition to the extra manpower, ICE has been freed from other constraints of the Biden administration.

Agents and officers are no longer forbidden from making arrests near “sensitive” locations, which under former Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas included parks, offices of government agencies, and community organizations.

Still, the biggest hindrance to deportations appears to be the slow pace of immigration court hearings and the lack of detention space.

White House officials say ICE’s pace of arrests is double what it was under Mr. Biden a year ago. Border czar Tom Homan said he’s “happy” with the numbers but wants them higher.

He said ICE has made 21,000 arrests and they’re going to “double the workforce.”

ICE’s director has long been one of the trickiest posts in all of the federal government.

Indeed, there hasn’t been a Senate-confirmed director in more than eight years, dating back to the Obama administration.

All of Mr. Trump’s picks from his first administration bowed out without winning confirmation, as did Mr. Biden’s pick for the job.

That’s left a revolving door of names to run the agency in an acting capacity.

Mr. Trump has yet to nominate someone for the post this time around.