by Jason Hopkins
President-elect Donald Trump announced his nominations to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), two agencies that will be at the forefront of his ambitious immigration agenda.
In a string of social media posts Thursday night, the president-elect announced the nominations of Caleb Vitello (pictured above, left) to lead ICE and Rodney Scott (pictured above, right) to lead CBP. Both men have worked for years in their respective agencies, with Vitello currently serving as the assistant director for the Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs with the agency, and Scott formerly serving as the Border Patrol chief in both the first Trump administration and Biden administration.
“Caleb’s exceptional leadership, extensive experience, and commitment to ICE’s mission make him an excellent choice to implement my efforts to enhance the safety and security of American communities who have been victimized by illegal alien crime,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“Rodney served nearly three decades in the Border Patrol, building vast experience and knowledge in Law Enforcement and Border Security. Rodney served as the 24th Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, where he implemented Remain-in-Mexico, Title 42, Safe Third Agreements, and achieved record low levels of illegal immigration,” Trump said of Scott’s background.
Scott previously spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation to blow the whistle on how the Biden administration allegedly went to great lengths to hide the massive illegal immigration from the American public.
The two choices to lead ICE and CBP largely round up the president-elect’s nominations to lead his signature political issue: immigration enforcement.
Trump, who already established himself as a stalwart on illegal immigration crackdowns during his first term in office, made a slate of campaign promises over the past year, such as completing the U.S.-Mexico border wall, reviving the Remain in Mexico program, bringing back the travel ban and hiring more Border Patrol agents. The president-elect also introduced a number of more novel pledges while on the campaign trail, such as a vow to conduct the “largest deportation program in American history” and a plan to end birthright citizenship for those born on American soil by illegal migrant parents.
To lead in these efforts, the Republican has tapped former ICE Acting Director Tom Homan to serve as his border czar, a position that will not require him to undergo Senate confirmation, but will allow him to have large oversight of the Trump administration’s enforcement strategy. Longtime aide and immigration hardliner Stephen Miller will serve as deputy chief of staff for policy.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has been tapped to lead the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees not only ICE and CBP, but also U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and other agencies paramount to Trump’s enforcement agenda.
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Jason Hopkins is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
