On June 27, 2019, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan announced a reshuffling of the leadership at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) [PDF version].
Acting Secretary McAleenan’s permanent position at DHS is Commissioner of CBP [see blog]. Since he took over as Acting Secretary of DHS [see blog], John P. Saunders had taken over as the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner of CBP. Saunders resigned from his position in late June.
Acting Secretary McAleenan announced that Mark Morgan, who had been serving as the Acting Director of ICE since late May [see blog], would take over as the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner of CBP. Morgan has prior experience at CBP, having served as Chief of the Border Patrol in the final months of the Obama Administration. President Donald Trump had announced his intent to nominate Morgan to the next ICE Director, but he has not yet submitted the nomination to the Senate and it is unclear whether the nomination plan will proceed in light of changing events [see blog]. You can learn more about the new acting head of CBP’s positions on immigration enforcement in our discussion of an interview he gave before being appointed as Acting Director of ICE [see blog].
With Morgan’s departure from ICE, Deputy Director Matthew T. Albence will assume the duties of Acting Director of ICE. We discussed Acting Director Albence’s resume in a blog post from his first stint as Acting Director in early 2019 [see blog].
With Ken Cuccinelli recently having been appointed as the Acting Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) [see blog], the DHS itself and its three main immigration-related components are currently being led by officials in acting capacities (note, however, that Acting Secretary of DHS McAleenan’s permanent position remains Commissioner of CBP). President Trump has not yet nominated individuals for the positions of Secretary of DHS, Director of ICE, or Director of USCIS. We will continue to update the website with information about the leadership situation at DHS as it becomes available.
