The Trump administration has removed Caleb Vitello, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, from his position, according to two former senior officials with the Department of Homeland Security, under which ICE falls, as well as one current senior DHS official.
Vitello’s removal comes after both border czar Tom Homan and President Donald Trump have expressed anger that the number of people being deported is not higher. Homan has also been upset with media leaks coming out of ICE that he said has led to fewer arrests than ICE has anticipated in certain operations.
The current senior DHS official said Vitello will stay on with ICE overseeing enforcement of arrests, targeting and field operations. The senior official also said an announcement is coming soon on who will replace Vitello as acting ICE director.
Vitello “grew up in the Enforcement and Removal Operations division” of ICE, a former ICE official told NBC News when Vitello was announced as the pick for acting director last year. With more than 20 years of experience at ICE, he’s intimately familiar with the agency works to arrest immigrants with criminal convictions, the former official added.
Jason Houser, who was chief of staff at ICE during the Biden administration until early 2023, called Vitello a thoughtful, good leader. “He knows the complexities and challenges of a broken immigration system,” Houser said.
When Vitello was named, multiple agency insiders expressed relief that an ICE veteran had been chosen.
“He’s very even-keeled. I honestly I can’t think of a single thing that [is] controversial about him. I don’t want to call him a Boy Scout, but he’s as close as it gets,” said Corey Price, the former acting executive associate director of Enforcement and Removal Operations.
A current ICE agent said Vitello was “very popular” among the rank and file during his month as acting director.
Laura Strickler contributed.