Outgoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director PJ Lechleitner says President Joe Biden “absolutely” should have acted sooner to tighten restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border, NBC News reported. “The administration should’ve taken that action earlier,” Lechleitner said. “And I think the career people in DHS would’ve liked that. And I think all of us in DHS, quite frankly, I don’t know if anybody in DHS wouldn’t have wanted that earlier.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data shows more than 11 million migrants are known to have crossed the southern border during Biden’s time in office, including a record 302,034 encounters along the border in December 2023.
It wasn’t until June 2024 that President Biden took action, signing an executive order, barring “migrants who cross the Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum.”
Following Biden’s executive order, migrant crossings fell to 104,100 in July 2024, one month after the measure was implemented.
Lechleitner criticized the delay in Biden’s action, calling it “unfortunate,” because ICE could have done more if the president had acted sooner.
“We could’ve put more resources to it,” Lechleitner told NBC News. “Either at CBP and for the border itself and with ICE. We could’ve gone and got more of these individuals who are on the non-detained docket. And we could’ve detained more people, and we could’ve removed more people. And I think we could’ve used more resources and support, and we could’ve done that in the last, you know, four years.”
Lechleitner, who has been with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since its inception in 2003, said the agency is chronically underfunded.
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, he has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, focusing on those with criminal records. However, Lechleitner expressed doubts about the feasibility of those plans without additional funding and resources.
“I wish the incoming administration well,” Lechleitner said. “But if the agency can’t find more funding and resources, the number of deportations won’t increase. It’ll be expensive and difficult.”
Lechleitner is set to leave his position in the coming week as the incoming Trump administration brings in its own ICE appointee.
