White House ousts top ICE officials amid push to arrest more migrants

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — An officer from ICE stands next to his vehicle in Laurel, Maryland, U.S., February 6, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis

By Ted Hesson

WASHINGTON  -  The Trump administration is removing two senior immigration enforcement officials as the White House is demanding a sharp increase in arrests of migrants in the U.S. illegally, three people familiar with the move said on Thursday.

Top U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials Kenneth Genalo and Robert Hammer will be pulled from their posts, the people said, requesting anonymity to discuss the shift. 

ICE confirmed the changes in a statement but did not cite White House pressure to increase arrests. Genalo, who heads ICE's enforcement and removal division, will retire, the agency said. Robert Hammer, the head of ICE's investigative arm, will be reassigned.

President Donald Trump, a Republican who took office in January, pledged to deport record numbers of migrants in the U.S. illegally. 

Deportations so far have lagged numbers under Trump's Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, whose administration faced higher levels of illegal immigration and quickly deported many recent border crossers.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, denied that the officials were pushed out of their roles, saying it "isn't accurate." The two officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The removal of Genalo and Hammer follows multiple ICE leadership shakeups in February.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told Fox News' "Hannity" on Wednesday that the White House was setting a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3,000 migrants per day, far above an earlier 1,000 per day arrest quota. 

Miller, the architect of Trump's immigration agenda, shouted at ICE officials over insufficient arrests in a meeting last week, one of the sources and two other people familiar with the matter said. The meeting was first reported by Axios.

Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also threatened to fire the bottom 10% of regional ICE officials based on their arrest tallies, the people said.

ICE said Marcos Charles, a former Dallas field office director, would take over enforcement and removal operations. Derek Gordon, a Washington-based official, will helm its investigative arm, the agency said.

NBC News first reported Genalo's retirement. 

 (Reporting by Ted Hesson; Editing by Mary Milliken and Sandra Maler)