By President Donald Trump is weighing a shake-up of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership, with plans to replace several regional officials amid frustration over what he views as lagging deportation numbers.
According to three people familiar with the discussions who spoke to The New York Times, the White House and Department of Homeland Security are targeting about six ICE field office directors for replacement. The move stems from dissatisfaction that current enforcement operations have yet to meet Trump’s goal of exceeding one million removals during his first year back in office. The proposal remains preliminary and could still change.
The contemplated overhaul underscores the administration’s struggle to fully deliver on its hard-line immigration agenda, even as officials publicly tout progress in border enforcement. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson declined to discuss personnel specifics but said, “the president’s entire team is working in lock step to implement the president’s policy agenda, and the tremendous results from securing the border to deporting criminal illegal aliens speak for themselves.”
ICE operates more than two dozen field offices, each responsible for vast regions that can span multiple states. These offices have come under mounting pressure to boost arrests, with the agency having already rotated through its acting director and senior deportation staff twice this year. Claire Trickler-McNulty, a former senior ICE official under President Biden, described the current atmosphere as punishing. “They are under constant threat; people are ground down; it’s a culture of fear,” she said. “There has been so much shuffling of deck chairs — I can’t imagine anyone even having the ability to take on real challenges.”
Homeland Security data show that over 400,000 people have been deported since Trump’s inauguration, with projections of 600,000 by year’s end. But those totals include individuals turned away at border crossings — not just removals from within the country — a figure critics say inflates the administration’s numbers.
Seeking to quicken the pace, deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller convened ICE leaders earlier this year to discuss ways to accelerate removals. Soon after, Miller publicly set a goal of 3,000 arrests per day. Initial surges topped 2,000 daily, but rates have since fallen to about 1,000, short of the administration’s target.
ICE operations are often labor-intensive, focusing on specific cases rather than broad sweeps that risk detaining uninvolved individuals. That deliberate approach has limited the agency’s ability to ramp up arrests to the levels Trump demands. The agency recently hired several health workers as the number of detentions has risen over the past few months.
Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, reiterated the administration’s priorities to The Times. “The Trump administration continues to be focused on delivering results and removing violent criminal illegal aliens from this country,” she said. Regarding staffing, she added, “As for personnel, there have been no changes, and we have nothing to announce.” ICE declined further comment.
With ICE struggling to hit its arrest goals, U.S. Border Patrol agents have increasingly joined in domestic enforcement — including large-scale raids at retail centers and residential complexes, such as a major operation in Chicago. ICE, by contrast, traditionally focuses on targeted removals — a slower process, but one less likely to stir public backlash.
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