Former President Joe Biden’s acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director P.J. Lechleitner on Monday praised President Donald Trump’s administration’s approach to illegal immigration during an MSNBC appearance.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office to declare a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border in order to utilize additional resources to tackle the immigration crisis. Lechleitner, on “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” commended the Trump administration’s prioritization of immigration enforcement, citing its backing of ICE and interagency collaboration.
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“There’s resource cost to this. And they’re going to have to get some resources on this, but the administration seems to be very focused on this. From the policy from the previous administration to this current administration, they changed and refocused the priorities and the policies,” Lechleitner said. “And this is all in accordance with the INA [Immigration and Nationality Act]. I mean, it’s in accordance with law. They can choose to be more aggressive, more muscular with their enforcement activities. It’s nice to see the people of ICE getting the support they need to do the work that they’re being asked to do.”
“It’s nice to see the administration really doing an interagency support network for that, because it’s just too much for ICE to do on its own and have DOJ [Department of Justice] collaborate with that,” he continued. “It’s really good to see that federal collaboration and work. And these are targeted operations.”
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) directive on Thursday empowered law enforcement agents across the DOJ with many of the same authorities as ICE agents. It applies to agents working within the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Lechleitner also noted that border czar Tom Homan has touted a focus on threats to public safety and national security, while also making collateral arrests.
“What I’m seeing here is something that has been done all the time. There’s a little more press on this,” he said. “They’re doing a lot of it and they’re rolling it out. And as the administration promised, they’re doing it.”
Lechleitner became acting ICE director in July 2023 and left when Trump took office. He acknowledged that Biden could have done more to support his agency and secure the southern border in an exit interview with NBC News.
“We could have detained more people, and we could have removed more people,” he said in the interview. “And I think we could use more resources and support. We could have done that in the last four years.”
CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten explained Monday how Americans have gained significantly more confidence in Republicans over Democrats on the issue of immigration.
“So, ‘trust which party more on immigration,’ you go back to April of 2017, look at this. The Democrats held an 11-point advantage over Republicans. So Americans were not liking what Donald Trump and the Republican Party was doing back at the beginning of his first term,” Enten said. “Look at where they are now though. Poll out just in the last week after Donald Trump took office, which party you trust more on immigration. Look at the margin Republicans are putting up here! A 22-point lead over Democrats.”
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