Two senior ICE officials have been pushed out of leadership roles as the White House demands a dramatic increase in immigrant arrests, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation, Axios reports.
The ousted officials are Kenneth Genalo, ICE’s enforcement and removal director, and Robert Hammer, Homeland Security’s investigations director who has led complex cases involving criminal immigrants. Genalo is retiring but will stay on as a special government employee, while Hammer is being reassigned to a different leadership position, sources said.
The shakeup follows a push by top Trump adviser Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who reportedly ordered ICE last week to triple its daily arrests to 3,000 — far more than the 1,000 daily arrests agents were averaging early in the administration. The day before the leadership changes, agents arrested 1,600 immigrants, a significant increase but still well short of the goal.
Sources said the leadership changes reflect frustration within the administration over ICE’s failure to meet the aggressive arrest target, though one source suggested the decisions were not directly tied to the arrest statistics but were influenced by discussions with Miller.
ICE has faced mounting pressure from the White House to speed up deportations, with President Trump aiming to remove a million unauthorized immigrants. Earlier this year, Noem reassigned ICE’s director and deputy director, replacing them with agency veteran Todd Lyons and political appointee Madison Sheehan, a former Noem aide. Some insiders said Lyons’ job could also be in jeopardy.
ICE has not had a Senate-confirmed director since the Obama administration.
“I think there’s great leadership at ICE,” said Tom Homan, a former acting director of the agency. “Todd Lyons, I’ve known him for years. He was probably the best field director we had.”
Homan said ICE agents across the country need a leader they can count on.
“They’re just looking for guidance, and they’re looking for cover,” he said. “So when they’re out there arresting illegal aliens, and the press comes after them, the NGOs come after them or the ACLU comes after them, you got a leader that’s going to support them.”
