The president will pick Mark Morgan, former Border Patrol director during the waning days of the Obama administration, to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted that he intends to nominate Mark Morgan to be the next director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“I am pleased to inform all of those that believe in a strong, fair and sound immigration policy that Mark Morgan will be joining the Trump administration as the head of our hardworking men and women of ICE,” the president’s tweet said.
Morgan (pictured above) briefly served as Border Patrol director in the waning days of the Obama administration and was removed from that post at the start of the Trump administration. He also served in the Marine Corps and briefly headed the FBI’s El Paso, Texas office.
ICE, which like the Border Patrol resides within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), currently lacks a permanent director. Trump withdrew earlier ICE director nominee Ronald Vitiello and the agency has been essentially overseen by Matthew Albence, acting deputy director.
DHS and its agencies are currently riddled with political appointee vacancies. On April 10, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan was rushed into the role of acting DHS secretary after the ouster of DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen by the president.
