A number of names in ICE, Border Patrol and elsewhere could be up for top posts
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President-elect Donald Trump wasted no time in announcing selections for key positions related to immigration and border security, quickly announcing a border czar and Homeland Security secretary, but who else could be appointed to the remaining positions?
Trump announced that Tom Homan will serve as "border czar," overseeing deportations and border security, while South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was announced as his nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
But it has not yet been decided who will serve in key positions at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
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Trump speaks at the U.S.-Mexico border on Aug. 22, 2024, south of Sierra Vista, Arizona. (Rebecca Noble)
Fox News Digital understands that discussions have not yet begun in earnest about those positions, and may not begin until December at the earliest, but multiple sources familiar with the situation and with the agencies in general spoke to Fox News Digital about those who are likely to be on the list for key positions.
Here are some of the people those sources believe could be in the running to make up the rest of the Trump team on immigration, which will be focused on securing the border and a mass deportation operation.
Todd Lyons
Lyons currently serves as ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO)’s Field Office Director in Boston. In that role, he is leading the effort to apprehend illegal immigrant criminals, many of whom have been released back onto the streets in the Boston area after committing crimes.
There have been a slew of high profile sex offenders nabbed by Lyons’ unit, and it’s brought attention to the consequences of "sanctuary" city policies, by which illegal immigrant criminals are released back onto the streets.
Lyons appears to be emerging as the favorite to helm the agency, particularly given his experience with sanctuary cities, something that is likely to be a top priority for the Trump administration. One source familiar with discussions of ICE told Fox News Digital that they would be shocked if Lyons were not nominated as the next ICE director.
Trump speaks with US Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott (R) as they participate in a ceremony commemorating the 200th mile of border wall at the international border with Mexico in San Luis, Arizona, on June 23, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Rodney Scott
Rodney Scott is a former Border Patrol chief who served as chief from 2020 until he was ousted by the Biden administration in mid-2021. Since then, he has been a fierce critic of the Biden administration’s immigration policies and its handling of the crisis at the southern border.
He would bring experience as a Border Patrol agent, and before being chief, he had led the San Diego Sector, one of the most challenging sectors in the country. He has been highly critical of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and recently accused him of having "intentionally" opened the southern border.
"We handed them the most secure border in the history of the United States and a roadmap to keep it that way and make it even better, [yet] through 94 executive actions, President Biden completely destroyed border security," Scott said this year.
Brandon Judd
Brandon Judd is the former head of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents Border Patrol agents across the country. He has been an agent since 1997 and also served as an instructor at the academy.
Under Judd, the union was strongly supportive of Trump and fiercely critical of the Biden administration's handling of the border crisis, during which there were a number of flashpoints between the Biden administration and agents.
Judd retired as president of the NBPC earlier this year and, along with the union, has been a strong backer of Trump's re-election campaign.
"Under President Trump, our border was secure, our agents were supported, migrants weren’t suffering at the hands of cartels, and our country was safer," he said in August.
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John Fabbricatore
Fabbricatore is a retired ICE field office director. In that capacity, he oversaw Colorado and Wyoming. Before that, he helped ICE establish a number of task forces targeting fugitives, and worked as an instructor in the ICE ERO Academy.
Since retiring in 2022, he has been sounding the alarm about Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang that has taken over apartment complexes and been linked to crimes in Colorado. He ran as a Republican congressional candidate this cycle in Colorado, saying he was "running to secure America."
Sources told Fox News Digital that it was unclear what Fabbricatore’s role might be, but one said they believed Fabbricatore would "likely" be involved in ICE in some capacity.
Jon Feere
Jon Feere is currently the Director of Investigations at the Center for Immigration Studies. He left CIS to join the immigration policy team on the first Trump transition team, and went on to serve as senior adviser to the ICE director and as ICE chief of staff in the first administration. He rejoined CIS after the end of the administration.
Feere worked closely with Homan, now the border czar, at ICE. He has zeroed in on the damage caused by sanctuary city policies, as well as what he sees as the abuse of employment visa programs like Optional Practical Training. Sources suggested his experience of the agency and in-depth knowledge of policy would make him a strong candidate for a position in ICE enforcement.
Tony Pham
Pham served as acting ICE director from August 2020 to December 2020, having served as ICE’s top legal adviser. Pham is a Vietnamese immigrant who arrived in the U.S. in 1975.
He oversaw a number of operations targeting illegal immigrants sprung from custody by "sanctuary" cities. Pham has cited his experience as a refugee as something that led him to enforcement.
"I wanted to be a part of the enforcement section of immigration, because what I learned is when people cheat, or when they try to cheat the system, whether it's immigration, or if it's a school test or whether it’s the state bar exam, if they cheat they demean and diminish the lawful pathway -- what my parents endured to become lawful citizens," he said in an interview with Fox News Digital in 2020."
Pham has been floated as a potential candidate to lead the agency, given that he has already stepped into that role before.
Acting ICE Director Tony Pham.
Robert Perez
Robert Perez is a former deputy CBP commissioner who served in that role during both the Trump and Biden administrations before leaving in June 2021, warning about the looming impact of a "broken" and "porous" immigration system.
He is the founder and co-chairman of the CBP Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting CBP employees and their families. While CBP would seem to be the best fit for Perez, one source said he would be "phenomenal" working in any part of the Department of Homeland Security.
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Joe Edlow
USCIS is often an overlooked agency, and it handles immigration policies regarding legal immigration. That work includes visas, asylum adjudications and the implementation of rules and restrictions.
It would be the agency spearheading the return of the public charge rule, which restricted immigrants from obtaining green cards if they were deemed likely to be reliant on welfare.
Edlow served as the acting director of the agency under the Trump administration, and he is one of only a few names floated as a potential return to the agency. One source said he was a "very serious" candidate and had done a good job leading the agency.
Rob Law
Law served during the first Trump administration as a senior policy adviser and chief of policy at USCIS. He has since headed the Center for Homeland Security and Immigration at America First Policy Institute. He has also been involved with the Center for Immigration Studies, where he was the director of regulatory affairs and policy.
He is seen as a strong candidate, given both his prior experience of the agency and also his detailed knowledge of policy.
Fox News' Emma Woodhead contributed to this report.
Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.
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