Secretary Mayorkas planning ‘significant changes’ to ICE amid growing frustration

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is responding to progressive pressure to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, planning “significant changes” to how the agency gauges success as apprehensions plummet to historic lows and frustration simmers among agents.

Speaking to the Washington Post in an interview published Tuesday, Mayorkas explained how he was focused on “elevating all of the other work” ICE does, as opposed to measuring agency success by the number of deportations and arrests. “I really am focused on [ICE] becoming a premier national security and law enforcement agency. I really want to elevate all of the other work it does and also ensure that its civil immigration work is well-focused in the service of the national security and public safety mission,” the secretary told the paper.