The Trump administration has tapped a longtime Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official to serve as second in command of the agency.
Charles Wall, who currently serves as ICE’s principal legal advisor, will become the new deputy director of the agency, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Thursday via a social media post. Wall will be replacing Madison Sheahan, who is vacating her position to mount a congressional run in her home state of Ohio.
“For the last year, Mr. Wall served as ICE’s Principal Legal Advisor, playing a key role in helping us deliver historic results in arresting and removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from American neighborhoods,” Noem stated. “Mr. Wall has served as an ICE attorney for 14 years and is a forward leaning, strategic thinker who understands the importance of prioritizing the removal of murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists from our country.”
“I look forward to working with him in his new role to make America safe again,” the DHS chief continued, who added that Wall’s appointment is effective immediately.
Sheahan, a 28-year-old who previously served as the executive director of the South Dakota Republican Party and led the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, earlier on Thursday announced her candidacy for Ohio’s 9th congressional district. That seat has been held for 43 years by now-79-year-old Democrat Marcy Kaptur — the longest-serving woman in congressional history.
As the principal legal advisor of ICE, Wall oversaw a staff of more than 2,000 attorneys and other personnel who represent the administration in deportation proceedings and conduct other legal matters related to immigration enforcement, according to his biography on the agency’s website. As the new deputy director, Wall will be overseeing the day-to-day operations of the entire agency, leading a workforce of more than 20,000 employees.
The promotion follows a tumultuous moment for ICE, with Democrats increasingly calling for major reforms — and even threatening to defund the agency entirely — after a deadly ICE-related shooting in Minneapolis. DHS has surged federal immigration enforcement across Minnesota, prompting pushback from local Democrats and violent, left-wing protesters.
“We cannot and we should not continue to fund agencies that operate with impunity, that escalate violence and that undermine the very freedoms this country claims to uphold,” Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar told reporters Tuesday, alongside other Democratic lawmakers who vowed to defund the agency. “ICE has no place in terrorizing Minneapolis or any American community.”
President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if Minnesota leaders did not do more to protect the violence against ICE agents.
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