Biden’s ICE Director Pick Criticized Agency’s Tactics Under Trump - Forbes

Topline

President Joe Biden has announced his intent to nominate Harris County (Texas) Sheriff Ed Gonzalez to lead the controversial U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, the White House said Monday, a Democrat with a history of denouncing the agency’s treatment of undocumented immigrants.

Key Facts

Gonzalez, the son of Cuban immigrants and sheriff of Harris County, the country’s third most-populous county, is Biden‘s pick for leading ICE, the agency tasked with enforcing U.S. immigration laws that also investigates trafficking and smuggling-related crimes.

During his time with Harris County, Gonzalez has been a vocal critic of ICE policies under the Trump Administration, such as the agency’s mass roundups of undocumented immigrants and separating migrant children from their parents.

In 2017, Gonzalez ended a county partnership with ICE that trained local deputies to identify the immigration status of suspects in jail to hold them for deportation, a program that preceded his time in office.

Gonzalez’s nomination is the latest example of Biden relaxing former President Donald Trump’s hard stance on immigration.

Crucial Quote

“[Raids] drive undocumented families further into the shadows and damage our community safety. It silences witnesses and victims, and [would] further worsen the challenges law enforcement officials face,” Gonzalez said in 2019, after announcing his office would not take part in sweeping immigration raids planned across the country.

Key Background

In February, the White House laid out plans to reform U.S. immigration and adopted policies, including focusing immigration enforcement primarily on undocumented migrants who pose a safety risk. Biden also rolled back a number of Trump’s immigration policies, like checking the status of parents who pick up migrant children from border custody, raising the federal limit on refugee admissions and lifting the travel restrictions on travelers with passports issued by predominantly Muslim countries.