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By Dan Gooding and Gabe Whisnant
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United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a major leadership realignment within its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) division on Thursday.
ICE said the changes would enable it to meet the "increasing operational tempo" under President Donald Trump.
After 33 years with the agency, ICE acting executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations Ken Genalo is retiring, according to a press release. He will continue supporting the agency in a new capacity as a special government employee.
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Marcos Charles will become the acting executive associate director of ERO**,** the agency's arm which deals with removals and deportations.
Why It Matters
This is the second major shakeup of ICE leadership since President Trump returned to office in January, once again amid reported displeasure from within the White House around the numbers of arrests and deportations being carried out by ICE.
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What To Know
Trump campaigned on a promise of mass deportations, and despite the administration touting higher numbers of removals, the figures have reportedly not been meeting the president's goals, or those set by his Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
Miller confirmed Thursday that ICE had been ordered to triple the number of daily arrests, to around 3,000. Hours later, the shuffle within the agency was announced.
Along with Genalo's retirement, ICE said Homeland Security Investigations' acting executive associate director Robert Hammer would "transition" to another role which "requires his unique expertise". Hammer has been with HSI for two decades.
Genalo will be replaced for now by Marcos Charles, a former Field Office director. Hammer's acting replacement as HSI lead is Derek Gordon, a long-time HSI staffer.
ICE also announced the following role changes:
- Garrett Ripa - resuming duties as Field Office Director for ERO Miami, Florida.
- Tatum King - HSI Acting Assistant Director of Domestic Operations.
- Denesha Helland - Acting Assistant Director of ERO's Non-Detained Management Division.
- Tom Giles - Acting Director for ERO Field Operations.
- Charles Wall - heading the agency's Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.
- Susan Cullen Dunbar - Executive Associate Director of the agency's Management and Administration Directorate.
The changes come after another shakeup just over a month into the second Trump administration, when Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem replaced ICE's director and deputy director.
Acting director Todd Lyons has been in the leadership role since then, along with Madison Sheehan who was a political staffer of Noem's.
What People Are Saying
ICE Acting Director Todd M. Lyons, in a press release: "Genalo has served in this acting capacity to help meet the mandate set forth by the American people — his contributions were integral in the successes we're seeing today. He's now going to serve as a special government employee working with field office directors within ICE. I can't thank him enough."
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, on X: "The Trump admin is reassigning the heads of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations divisions, following a meeting this week where Stephen Miller reportedly screamed at them for not hitting the White House's genuinely insane arrest quotas."
Austin Kocher, immigration professor at Syracuse University, on X: "This is from an administration that brags about doing record numbers of deportations, but then not providing any data or evidence of it and then punishing people in its own administration because they aren't doing enough. Pure chaos."
What's Next
The Trump administration is yet to officially update its data portals on deportations, but ICE arrest numbers within the U.S. versus at the border continue to climb.
Update: 5/29/25, 4:45 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and remarks.
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