The Trump administration has begun removing senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in five major U.S. cities and plans to replace some of them with senior Border Patrol agents who will oversee interior immigration enforcement in those regions, according to five sources familiar with the matter.
ICE field office leaders in Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and San Diego were reassigned to other positions within the agency last Friday, the Washington Examiner reported.
Over the weekend, the Department of Homeland Security began restructuring its approach, albeit quietly, to the administration’s mass deportation initiative, aiming to increase arrest numbers and amplify the visibility of its high-profile enforcement campaign.
According to three officials, the five cities are expected to be the first in a broader series of changes across ICE’s 24 field offices nationwide.
An official with direct knowledge of the plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the overhaul extends well beyond the initial five locations. “It’s a lot more,” the official said.
Five sources confirmed that the directors of the five ICE field offices were removed from their positions and reassigned to other locations across the country. According to those familiar with the matter, DHS had initially planned to terminate all five officials but reversed course following objections from acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, who urged that they be reassigned rather than dismissed, the outlet reported.
“The administration wanted all these guys fired and Todd stepped in and said, ‘Let’s move them all to headquarters,’” a second official told the Examiner.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem holds final authority over personnel decisions at both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. The department declined to comment on Noem’s involvement in the recent staffing changes, the outlet reported.
“I personally think this is being pushed by Noem and [DHS senior adviser Corey Lewandowski] because they don’t like [White House border czar Tom Homan]. I think Tom would have said, ‘No way,’” the second official said.
There have been no public indications of a schism between Noem and Homan, nor have any previous reports made such claims.
The Examiner added:
The decision to replace top federal employees from one agency with employees from an entirely different agency is unprecedented.
The DHS had initially dispatched Gregory Bovino, who oversees the Border Patrol’s El Centro, California, region, to help with immigration arrests in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland since the start of summer.
Bovino has become the face of the Trump administration’s crackdown on crime for his aggressive style, leading Border Patrol agents in a parade down the streets of Chicago’s business district and standing face to face with fiery rioters and protesters. He has also brought in Border Patrol agents to supplement ICE efforts.
Now, the second official explained, Bovino is not viewed as the exception to the norm, but the new standard for what is to come at ICE.
The officials removed from their positions were Denver Field Office Director Robert Guadian, San Diego Field Office Director Patrick Divver, Phoenix Field Office Director John Cantu, Los Angeles Field Office Director Ernesto Santacruz, and Philadelphia Acting Field Office Director Brian McShane. All five declined or did not respond to requests for comment, said the Examiner.
In Philadelphia, an official from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division, rather than the Border Patrol, will assume leadership following Brian McShane’s reassignment. As of Monday afternoon, the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and Border Patrol had not publicly announced any personnel changes.
Since President Trump took office, his administration has emphasized increasing arrests and deportations. The administration projects reaching 600,000 deportations by January 2026.
In May, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller urged ICE to target 3,000 arrests of undocumented immigrants per day — a pace that would amount to more than 1 million arrests annually.