Biden picks Texas sheriff who criticized Trump immigration policies to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement

President Joe Biden has nominated a critic of the Trump administration’s immigration policies to run U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, one of the federal government’s most polarizing agencies.

The White House announced that Biden’s pick for ICE director is Harris County, Texas, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, a veteran law enforcement officer who transformed the sheriff’s office in the Houston metropolitan area from one of the agency’s staunchest allies into a reluctant partner.

Gonzalez withdrew his department from a voluntary federal program that for years helped to detain and deport immigrants, and has expressed concern that involving local law enforcement in civil deportation efforts “silences witnesses & victims” by making immigrants afraid to report crimes.

“I do not support #ICERaids that threaten to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, the vast majority of whom do not represent a threat to the U.S.,” Gonzalez said in a tweet in July 2019, amid reports of immigration roundups. “The focus should always be on clear & immediate safety threats. Not others who are not threats.”

Gonzalez runs the third largest sheriff’s office in the United States, with approximately 5,000 employees and a $571 million annual budget. If confirmed, he would take over a federal agency with more than 20,000 employees worldwide and an $8 billion-a-year budget.

Gonzalez’s nomination comes at a pivotal time for ICE, which a Pew Research Center survey found had a lower approval rating last year than the Internal Revenue Service. Hundreds of sanctuary cities and towns have limited their cooperation with the agency or refused to work with it at all. And some liberals have called for the Biden administration to abolish ICE.

ICE is best known for arresting and deporting people for civil immigration violations such as overstaying their visas or working without legal papers. But the agency also works on criminal investigations, such as drug or human trafficking cases that can target U.S. citizens, via its Homeland Security Investigations division.

ICE has long contended that, away from the nation’s borders, most detainees are taken directly from state prisons or county jails after being arrested for crimes, in keeping with its mission to improve public safety. But critics say they have detained and deported thousands of immigrants for minor offenses such as traffic stops.

ICE jails are holding approximately 15,000 detainees, among the lowest levels in years, and deportations from the interior of the United States plunged during the pandemic.

The Biden administration has signaled that it wishes to reform ICE, not abolish it, and Gonzalez is an example of how the agency’s relationships with local police can change.

Before Gonzalez’s election in 2016, Harris County was one of ICE’s most steadfast partners in immigration enforcement. Officials pioneered the federal agency’s Secure Communities program, which allows immigration officials to scan the fingerprints of anyone arrested to see if they are in the country illegally.

Harris County also enrolled in ICE’s voluntary 287(g) program, which deputizes local police to search inside the county jails for inmates eligible for deportation.

Gonzalez withdrew from ICE’s controversial 287(g) program in 2017. He has also said that his office also “does not participate” in immigration roundups for civil violations such as jumping the border or overstaying a visa.

He has said that police should stick to preventing crime, and ICE can enforce civil immigration laws.

“Diverting valuable law enforcement resources away from public safety threats would drive undocumented families further into the shadows & damage our community safety,” he said in a 2019 tweet. “It silences witnesses & victims & [would] further worsen the challenges law enforcement officials face #ICEraids.”

Gonzalez has acknowledged that immigration agents still have access to his jail to detain immigrants, as required under a Texas state law that bans sanctuary policies, and his agency cooperates with ICE’s criminal investigations.

The Biden administration is attempting to reorient ICE after a tumultuous four years under the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump, a Republican endorsed by the immigration enforcement agents’ union, gave ICE wide latitude to deport anyone in the United States illegally. He never surpassed the deportations of the Obama era, however, largely because of resistance from Democratic strongholds that limited cooperation with ICE.

Biden has narrowed those enforcement priorities dramatically - aiming to limit deportations to recent border crossers, national security threats and people convicted of aggravated felonies. He has also proposed a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to apply for U.S. citizenship, which would shrink ICE’s caseload.

If confirmed, Gonzalez will be charged with ensuring that immigration agents adhere to the administration’s new enforcement priorities.

Gonzalez describes himself online as “a lifelong Houstonian,” and holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Houston Downtown and a master’s degree from the University of St. Thomas.

He worked for 18 years in the Houston Police Department, rising from a civilian employee to police officer, homicide investigator and hostage negotiator, before retiring in 2009. He served three terms on the Houston City Council, chairing the Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee, and serving as mayor pro-tem.

He was elected sheriff in 2016 and reelected last year. Harris County is the largest sheriff’s department in Texas.