Overview
- Sources say ICE field chiefs in at least Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix and San Diego were replaced or detailed with senior Border Patrol officials, with reports indicating up to a dozen offices are affected.
- Border czar Tom Homan says the administration is on track for roughly 600,000 removals by January and confirms he is coordinating with White House adviser Stephen Miller to drive higher enforcement numbers.
- DHS cites more than 527,000 deportations to date and touts mass self-departures, but independent analysts say the figures are not fully verifiable and likely count turnbacks at ports of entry.
- U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis tightened oversight of Chicago operations, ordering nightly briefings from Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino after documented tear gas incidents that violated her limits on crowd-control weapons.
- ICE is pushing to hire 10,000 new officers by year’s end with 175,000 applications and thousands of tentative offers, though reports describe high failure rates on fitness and law tests as DHS defends its standards and notes an age-limit waiver.