President Donald Trump appointed Thomas Homan to be acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security announced late Monday.
Homan replaces Daniel Ragsdale, who had been the acting director of ICE since 2013. DHS did not provide an immediate explanation for the change.
DHS Secretary John Kelly said he was confident that Homan “will continue to serve as a strong, effective leader for the men and women of ICE. I look forward to working alongside him to ensure that we enforce our immigration laws in the interior of the United States consistent with the national interest.”
A former NYPD officer and Border Patrol agent, Homan has served as ICE’s executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations since 2013.
An April 2016 Washington Post profile of Homan lead with these two sentences: “Thomas Homan deports people. And he’s really good at it.”
Homan’s appointment was announced shortly after Trump dismissed acting Attorney General Sally Yates, another Obama administration holdover, for telling Justice Department attorneys not to defend the president’s refugee and travel ban.
