ice official

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is initiating a leadership shakeup at a dozen or so offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to bring more aggressive enforcement operations across the U.S.

Some of the outgoing field office directors at ICE are anticipated to be replaced with leaders from Customs and Border Protection, according to news reports. Among the leaders targeted for replacement are Los Angeles Field Office Director Ernesto Santacruz and San Diego Field Office Director Patrick Divver, the Washington Examiner reported Monday.

The stepped up role of Border Patrol leaders in interior enforcement — which has historically been ICE territory — marks an evolution of tactics that originated in California.

In early January, Gregory Bovino, who heads the Border Patrol’s El Centro region, led a three-day raid in rural Kern County, nabbing day laborers more than 300 miles from his typical territory. Former Biden administration officials said Bovino had gone “rogue” and that no agency leaders knew about the operation beforehand.

Bovino leveraged the spectacle to become the on-the-ground point person for the Trump Administration’s signature issue.

The three-decade veteran of Border Patrol, who has used slick social media videos to promote the agency’s heavy-handed tactics, brought militarized operations once primarily used at the border into America’s largest cities.

In Los Angeles this summer, contingents of heavily armed, masked agents began chasing down and arresting day laborers, street vendors and car wash workers. Tensions grew as the administration ordered in the National Guard.

The efforts seem to have become more aggressive after a Supreme Court order allowed authorities to stop people based on factors such as race or ethnicity, employment and speaking Spanish.

Bovino moved operations to Chicago and escalated his approach. Immigration agents launched an overnight raid in a crowded apartment, shot gas into crowds of protesters and fatally shot one man.

Now Bovino is expected to hand-pick some of the replacements at ICE field offices, according to Fox News.

Tom Wong, who directs the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at UC San Diego, said the leadership changes are unsurprising, given Bovino’s strategies in Los Angeles and Chicago.

“The Trump administration is blurring the distinction between Border Patrol and ICE,” he said. “The border is no longer just the external boundaries of the United States, but the border is everywhere.”

Former Homeland Security officials said the large-scale replacement of executives from one agency with those from another agency is unprecedented.

The two agencies have similar authorities but very different approaches, said Daniel Altman, former head of internal oversight investigations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

ICE officers operate largely inside the country, lean heavily on investigations and typically know when they set out for the day who they are targeting.

Border Patrol, on the other hand, patrols the borderlands for anyone they encounter and suspect of entering illegally. Amid the rugged terrain and isolation, Border Patrol built a do-it-yourself ethos within the century-old organization, Altman said.

“Culturally, the Border Patrol prides itself on solving problems, and that means that whatever the current administration needs or wants with respect to immigration enforcement, they’re usually very willing and able to do that,” said Altman.

White House leadership has not been happy with arrest numbers. Stephen Miller, President Trump’s deputy chief of staff who is heading his immigration initiatives, set a goal of 3,000 immigration arrests per day, which the agency has not been able to meet.

DHS says it expects to deport 600,000 people by January, a figure that includes people who were turned back at the border or at airports.

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant public affairs secretary for the Homeland Security department, didn’t confirm or deny the changes but described immigration officials as united.

“Talk about sensationalism,” she said. “Only the media would describe standard agency personnel changes as a ‘massive shakeup.’ If and when we have specific personnel moves to announce, we’ll do that.”

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said, “The President’s entire team is working in lockstep to implement the President’s policy agenda, and the tremendous results from securing the border to deporting criminal illegal aliens speak for themselves.”

On Fox News on Tuesday, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said the administration is dedicated to achieving record deportations of primarily immigrants with criminal records.

“As far as personnel changes, that’s under the purview of the Secretary of Homeland Security,” he said. “I’m at the White House working with people like Stephen Miller, one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met, to come up with strategic policies and plans — how to get success, how to maintain success, and how to get the numbers ever higher.”

Deborah Fleischaker, a former ICE and DHS official under the Biden administration, said the personnel moves appear to be an “attempt to migrate a Border Patrol ethos over to ICE.”

“ICE’s job has historically focused on targeting and enforcing against public safety threats,” she said. “Border Patrol has a much more highly militarized job of securing the border, protecting against transnational crime and drug trafficking and smuggling. That sort of approach doesn’t belong in our cities and is quite dangerous.”

Fleischaker said it would be difficult to increase deportations, even with Border Patrol leaders at the helm, because of the complexities around securing travel documents and negotiating with countries that are reticent to accept deportees.

In the meantime, she said, shunting well-liked leaders will sink morale.

“For the folks who are still there, everybody knows you comply or you risk losing your job,” she said. “Dissent, failure to meet targets or even ask questions aren’t really tolerated.”

On Tuesday, DHS posted a video montage of Bovino on its Instagram page set to Coldplay’s song “Viva la vida.” The caption read, “WE WILL NOT BE STOPPED.”

Times staff writer Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement held a hiring fair last month in Provo, Utah, that drew hundreds of job seekers — in part with signing bonuses up to $50,000 and salaries of $50,000 to $100,000 a year. This follows recruiting events in Arlington, Texas, in August and Chantilly, Va., in June. Despite polls showing that most Americans do not like how the agency is doing its job, these expos were quite popular. “This is a highly desired career,” an ICE official told reporters at the Texas event. “A lot of people want to do this job.”

That seems to be true, which makes recent changes in ICE’s hiring and recruiting practices all the more troubling. Flush with cash from Congress, the agency is ramping up hiring while lowering standards for employment. ICE is using controversial slogans and imagery to attract new recruits. In its rush to expand, ICE is placing immigrants, citizens and its own agents in harm’s way.

Under the terms of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that the president signed into law in July, Congress has given ICE an additional $75 billion in funding. The agency wants to hire at least 10,000 new agents as the administration seeks to fulfill its promise of deporting a million immigrants a year.

To meet this goal, ICE is lowering hiring standards. ICE agents can now be as young as 18, and there is no longer an age cap for new hires. The agency has also cut training time for recruits from 13 to eight weeks, by reducing Spanish lessons, firearms training and classroom hours. Working for ICE does not require a high school diploma, a military background or any law enforcement experience. An aspiring ICE agent only has to pass a background check, meet physical and medical requirements, and complete the abbreviated training course.

In contrast, many local police and sheriff’s departments have stricter hiring requirements. The Los Angeles Police Department requires its applicants to have a high school diploma, to complete six months of training and to be 21 at the time of police academy graduation.

ICE’s lower standards are alarming, given that agents have the power to make decisions with life-altering consequences. A teenager who formerly worked in a retail store or office workers bored with their daily routine could soon be out on the streets of L.A., carrying a gun and chasing anyone they think might be a migrant. New ICE agents might be placed in volatile situations without enough experience or judgment to make sound decisions. Immigrants — or anyone who looks like one — may be at risk of rookie ICE hires violating their constitutional and civil rights.

Unfortunately, we have been here before. Between 2006 and 2009, the Border Patrol scaled up quickly too. Hiring and training requirements were eased, with some agents rushed into training before background checks were completed. This resulted in drug cartel members being hired, corruption and a spike in agents being arrested for misconduct. With its ongoing rapid expansion, ICE is poised to repeat the same kind of mistakes.

ICE’s recruitment campaign is likewise problematic. “America has been invaded by criminals and predators. We need YOU to get them out,” is one such appeal, which plays on false notions of “invasion” and immigrant criminality. On its official X account, Homeland Security uses images of Uncle Sam, as though joining ICE were akin to a military mobilization. In one post, the agency asks, “Want to deport illegals with your absolute boys?” In another, it asks, “Which way, American man?” This meme appears to reference, “Which Way Western Man?” — a 1978 book by an avowed white supremacist.

ICE slogans urge job seekers to “Defend Your Country” and “Protect the Homeland.” But such language smacks of propaganda, not professionalism. Former ICE officials are rightfully concerned that such tactics might draw the wrong kind of recruits. Rather than attracting qualified applicants who want to serve in federal law enforcement, ICE may be appealing to people with antipathy toward immigrants, or who see themselves as helping defend the U.S. from demographic changes.

ICE performs a vital function for the government, with agents shouldering great personal risk and responsibility. Yet ICE’s current practices are far from ideal, with well-documented instances of agents using excessive force and engaging in physical and verbal abuse of suspected undocumented immigrants. So this is not the time for ICE to lower standards. The agency’s latest hiring and recruiting efforts will not bolster the agency’s image or effectiveness. Instead they raise serious questions about new agents’ readiness, ability and suitability for this line of work. To put it simply, do we really want teenagers participating in ICE raids?

To remedy the situation, ICE should slow down and properly train incoming agents. The minimum age should be reinstated to 21. More thorough Spanish-language instruction should be restored to curriculums. Otherwise, fast-tracked employees will be sent unprepared into communities that are already angry and fearful, which is potentially dangerous for everyone involved.

ICE’s hiring spree is reckless and irresponsible. As a matter of public safety, immigration enforcement should not be an entry-level job.

Raul A. Reyes is an immigration attorney and contributor to NBC Latino and CNN Opinion. X: @RaulAReyes; Instagram: @raulareyes1

WASHINGTON — The day after immigration raids began in Los Angeles, Rep. Norma Torres (D-Pomona) and three other members of Congress were denied entry to the immigrant detention facility inside the Roybal Federal Building.

The lawmakers were attempting an unannounced inspection, a common and long-standing practice under congressional oversight powers.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said too many protesters were present on June 7 and officers deployed chemical agents multiple times. In a letter later to acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Torres said she ended up in the emergency room for respiratory treatment. She also said the protest had been small and peaceful.

Torres is one of many Democratic members of Congress, from states including California, New York and Illinois, who have been denied entry to immigrant detention facilities in recent weeks.

Jim Townsend, director of the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy at Wayne State University in Michigan, said the denials mark a profound — and illegal — shift from past practice.

“Denying members of Congress access to facilities is a direct assault on our system of checks and balances,” he said. “What members of Congress are trying to do now is to be part of a proud bipartisan tradition of what we like to call oversight by showing up.”

Subsequent attempts by lawmakers to inspect the facility inside the Roybal Building have also been unsuccessful.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), who was with Torres the day she was hospitalized, went back twice more — on June 9 and on Tuesday — and was rebuffed. Torres and Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) tried at separate times Wednesday and were both denied.

Gomez and other Democrats have pointed to a federal statute, detailed in yearly appropriations packages since 2020, which states that funds may not be used to prevent a member of Congress “from entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight, any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens …”

The statute also states that nothing in that section “may be construed to require a Member of Congress to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility” for the purpose of conducting oversight. Under the statute, federal officials may require at least 24 hours notice for a visit by congressional staff — but not members themselves.

Under ICE guidelines published this month for members of Congress and their staff, the agency requests at least 72 hours notice from lawmakers and requires at least 24 hours notice from staff.

The agency says it has discretion to deny or reschedule a visit if an emergency arises or the safety of the facility is jeopardized, though such contingencies are not mentioned in the law.

Gomez said an ICE official called him Tuesday to say that oversight law doesn’t apply to the downtown L.A. facility because it is a field office, not a detention facility.

“Well it does say Metropolitan Detention Center right here in big, bold letters,” he says in a video posted afterward on social media, gesturing toward a sign outside the building. “But they say this is a processing center. So I smell bull—.”

Department of Homeland Security police patrol the street after detaining a protester at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in downtown L.A. on June 12.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

If no one is technically being detained, Gomez said he rhetorically asked the official during their call, are they free to leave?

Torres visited the facility in February by setting up an appointment, her staff said. She got another appointment for last Saturday, but ICE canceled it because of the protests. When members emailed ICE to set up a new appointment, they got no response.

Gomez said he believes ICE doesn’t want lawmakers to see field offices because of poor conditions and lack of attorney access because of ramped-up arrests that have reportedly left some detainees there overnight without beds and limited food.

In some cases, lawmakers have had success showing up unannounced. On Friday, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) toured the Adelanto ICE Processing Facility, north of San Bernardino. After being denied entry to the Adelanto Facility on June 8, Chu and four other California Democrats were allowed in on Tuesday.

“Just because ICE has opened their doors to a few members of Congress does not excuse their inflammatory tactics to meet deportation quotas,” said Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside), who visited Adelanto with Chu. “Accountability means showing a consistent pattern of accessibility, not just a one-off event.”

The representatives learned the facility is now at full capacity with 1,100 detainees, up from 300 a month ago. Chu said they spoke to detainees from the L.A. raids, who she said were not criminals and who are now living in inhumane conditions — without enough food, unable to change their underwear for 10 days or to call their families and lawyers.

Chu said the group arrived early and stood in the lobby to avoid a repeat of their previous attempt, when facility guards kept them off the property by locking a fence.

Tom Homan, President Trump’s border policy advisor, departs a meeting with Republican senators who are working to cancel $9.4 billion in spending already approved by Congress at the Capitol in Washington on June 11.

(J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

In an interview with The Times this month, Trump’s chief border policy advisor Tom Homan said members of Congress are welcome to conduct oversight, but that they must contact the facility first to make arrangements. The agency has to look after the safety and security of the facility, officers and detainees, he said.

“Please go in and look at them,” he said. “They’re the best facilities that money can buy, the highest detention standards in the industry. But there’s a right way and wrong way to do it.”

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for Homeland Security, said in a statement to The Times that requests for visits are needed because “ICE law enforcement have seen a surge in assaults, disruptions and obstructions to enforcement, including by politicians themselves.”

She added that requests for visits should be made with enough time — “a week is sufficient” — to not interfere with the president’s authority under Article II of the Constitution to oversee executive branch functions.

DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin, flanked by Deputy Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Madison Sheahan, left, and acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons, speaks during a news conference in Washington on May 21.

(Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press)

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, slammed the guidance Wednesday on X.

“This unlawful policy is a smokescreen to deny Member visits to ICE offices across the country, which are holding migrants — and sometimes even U.S. citizens — for days at a time,” he wrote. “They are therefore facilities and are subject to oversight and inspection at any time. DHS pretending otherwise is simply their latest lie.”

Townsend, the congressional oversight expert, said the practice goes back to when President Truman was a senator and established a committee to investigate problems among contractors who were supplying the World War II effort.

“That committee conducted hundreds of field visits, and they would show up unannounced in many instances,” Townsend said.

More recently, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) drove to the Pentagon in 1983 and demanded access to ask questions about overspending after being stonewalled, he said, by Department of Defense officials.

The Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution to mean that Congress has wide authority to conduct oversight to show up unannounced in order to secure accurate information, Townsend said.

National Guard members stand at post at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles on June 10.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said the Trump administration is trying to hide the truth from the public. Last week, Padilla was shoved out of a news conference, forced to the ground and handcuffed after attempting to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

“The Trump administration has done everything in their power but to provide transparency to the American people about their mission in Los Angeles,” he said during an impassioned floor speech Wednesday in which he cried recounting the ordeal.

In an interview Wednesday with Newsmax, McLaughlin accused Democratic lawmakers of using oversight as an excuse to stage publicity stunts.

“The Democrats are reeling,” she said. “They have no actual message and so they’re doing this to get more attention and to manufacture viral moments.”

On Tuesday, Gomez wore a suit jacket with his congressional lapel pin and carried his congressional ID card and business card in his hand — “so there would be no mistake” as to who he was. He said he was concerned that what happened to Padilla could also happen to him. He was denied access anyway.

Gomez said federal officials should be fined each time they deny oversight access to members of Congress. He said he and other members are also discussing whether to file a lawsuit to compel access.

“When you have an administration that is operating outside the bounds of the law, they’re basically saying, ‘What recourse do you have? Can you force us? You don’t have an army. We don’t need to listen to you,’” Gomez said. “Then you have to put some real teeth into it.”

Times staff writer Nathan Solis in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

As Immigration and Customs Enforcement carries out raids across Los Angeles, former daytime talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw and his TV network MeritTV are covering the actions and protests in the city.

McGraw conducted an interview Friday with White House border advisor Tom Homan, who was leading the agency’s raids. A portion of the interview was posted on MeritTV’s website and the network plans to air a conversation between the men that was “taped the day before and the day after the L.A. operation” in two parts beginning Monday at 5 p.m. PT, according to a network spokesperson reached via email. MeritTV, which launched late last year, primarily features McGraw’s show “Dr. Phil Primetime,” where he comments on the news and interviews figures ranging from New York City Mayor Eric Adams to businessman and former L.A. mayoral candidate Rick Caruso.

The TV host has previously embedded with ICE officials during raids, including in Chicago earlier this year, where he and his crew taped arrests. However, that wasn’t the case this time around in L.A., but crews from his network did capture footage from the enforcement action over the weekend.

“MeritTV news crews were on the ground during the recent ICE operation in L.A. on Friday,” a MeritTV spokesperson said. “In order to not escalate any situation, Dr. Phil McGraw did not join and was not embedded, as he previously was in Chicago.”

The interview was taped at the Homeland Security Investigations’ downtown field office. ICE declined to comment on the interview and whether McGraw was given advance notice of the raids.

McGraw was previously the host of his eponymous talk show, which ended in 2023 after 21 seasons. At the time, CBS Media Ventures, which syndicated the talk show, and McGraw said he wanted to expand his audience in a new venture because of “grave concerns for the American family.” During the 2024 election, McGraw spoke at then-presidential candidate Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden, though he claimed it wasn’t an endorsement. However, he has been a proponent of the administration’s positions on immigration and he was recently named to the president’s religious liberty commission.