Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Caleb Vitello was abruptly removed from his position and given a new position inside the agency. According to reports, the White House was less than impressed with the pace of deportations.
Trump handpicked Vitello to lead a troubled and wounded agency over a month before he was inaugurated; see Trump’s Latest Homeland Security Picks Tell Us a Lot About What the New Admin’s Priorities Will Be. His long experience in the agency seemed to offer the best blend of experience and a desire to lead Trump’s effort to remove illegals.
Vitello was formerly the assistant director of the Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs in ICE. His new position is a demotion, but it seems like he’s still leading the field effort in deportation. According to Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, Vitello “is no longer in an Administrative role, but is instead overseeing all field and enforcement operations: finding, arresting, and deporting illegal aliens, which is a major priority of the President and Secretary Noem.” This effort has been marred by calculated leaks to the media of ICE operations; see Are Illegal Immigrants Being Tipped Off to ICE Raids? – RedState.
Border Czar Tom Homan is not happy with the pace of progress.
🚨BREAKING: The Trump administration is replacing acting ICE Director Caleb Vitello because of the slow pace of deportations
Tom Homan has repeatedly said on live TV that he is “NOT HAPPY with the numbers because there are a lot of criminals to find.” pic.twitter.com/E3laoF2lKI
— Unlimited L’s (@unlimited_ls) February 21, 2025
And he shouldn’t be. According to deportation data, unless the Trump administration ups its game, it is on track to achieve the lowest number of deportations since 2021 (I excluded those deportations handled as COVID-related; if they are included, the situation is infinitely worse). That is not something Trump will want to hear in the year-end review of his accomplishments.
Vitello lasted two weeks longer than two other handpicked men: “Russell Hott and Peter Berg, who held top positions in the enforcement division of ICE, will return, respectively, to the agency’s Washington field office and to St. Paul, Minnesota.”
