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Two senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have been stripped of their positions after allegedly failing to meet President Trump’s aggressive deportation targets, while a proponent of reopening ICE operations at Rikers Island has been selected to head the enforcement division.
Russell Hott and Berg were recently removed from their leadership roles in ICE’s enforcement division as the Trump administration pushes for increased arrests and deportations of undocumented immigrants, according to sources who spoke with the Washington Post.
“ICE needs a culture of accountability that it has been starved of for the past four years,” a DHS spokesperson stated following the leadership changes.
Top ICE officials reassigned amid Trump deportation push
Top two officials (Russell Hott & Peter Berg) in ICE’s enforcement division demoted as Agency works to ramp up arrests & deportations
President Trump & US Border Czar Tom Homan not pleased with pace & scale of operations… https://t.co/7KiawcfxuC pic.twitter.com/Tq7XUyHRRA
— Prodigal (@ProdigalThe3rd) February 12, 2025
“We have a president, DHS secretary, and American people who rightfully demand results, and our ICE leadership will ensure the agency delivers.”
The demoted officials, who previously held senior positions in Enforcement and Removal Operations, are being reassigned to field offices in Washington and Minnesota, sources revealed.
Sources indicate that Todd Lyons, who currently leads ICE’s Boston office, will assume control of the division.
Last December, Lyons advocated for reinstating ICE presence at Rikers Island jail complex to facilitate detention of criminal migrants.
“Re-establishing the [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement] unit at Rikers would allow [Enforcement and Removal Operations] NYC officers to take direct custody of foreign-born criminal offenders without the need to re-apprehend these criminals at large in the community,” Lyons stated while serving as assistant director of field operations.
The leadership shake-up occurs as agents struggle to achieve Trump’s objective of expelling millions of violent immigrants and gang members from the country.
The reorganization announcement coincided with border czar Tom Homan expressing dissatisfaction with the pace of enforcement operations.
“If you look at the rest of interior enforcement, it’s about three times higher than it was a year ago today. Three times higher is good, but I’m not satisfied,” Homan told NewsNation, pointing to ICE’s tripled arrest statistics.
Instead of having Biden’s 87,000 IRS agents take more money from Americans, I have requested that they help taxpayers SAVE money by helping ICE round up criminal illegal aliens for deportation. pic.twitter.com/odpMunmm3o
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) February 10, 2025
“There are more criminal aliens that need to be arrested, hundreds of thousands.”
“Sanctuary cities are putting roadblocks up. We’ve got leaks. So we need to increase the arrests of illegal aliens, especially those with criminal convictions. So we’re going to continue,” Homan added.
Large-scale immigration raids have been conducted in major metropolitan areas, including New York City, since Trump’s inauguration.
ICE reports that those detained include undocumented immigrants accused of various serious crimes, including rape, child sex offenses, and weapons and narcotics violations.
