Washington (AP) Following his announcement of his choices to lead Customs and Border Protection and the agency responsible for deporting illegal immigrants, the picture of who would be in charge of carrying out President-elect Donald Trump’s strict immigration and border policies has become more clear.
Late Thursday, Trump announced that he was appointing Rodney Scott, a former head of the Border Patrol who has been an outspoken advocate for stricter enforcement tactics, as the CBP commissioner.
Trump said that he would name Caleb Vitello, a career ICE official with over 23 years of experience, as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Vitello most recently served as assistant director for guns and tactical programs.
They will collaborate with an immigration leadership team that includes immigration hardliner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff, former acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan as border czar, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security.
Under the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection employs over 60,000 people. In essence, it is in charge of safeguarding the nation’s borders while promoting trade and travel, and it includes the Border Patrol, which Scott oversaw during Trump’s first term.
Scott brings a strong Border Patrol perspective to his work. He spent a large portion of his career in San Diego after becoming an agent in 1992. San Diego was the top corridor for illegal crossings at the time he joined the agency. After the government drastically strengthened enforcement there, traffic fell, but others say the effort forced people to travel to more isolated areas of Arizona and California.
Additionally, wall construction started in San Diego in the 1990s, which influenced Scott’s conviction that barriers are effective. In 2017, he was appointed sector chief for San Diego.
Upon his appointment as the head of the border agency in January 2020, he accepted Trump’s agenda with gusto.
He is well-known. Gil Kerlikowske, the CBP commissioner during the Obama administration, stated that he is aware of these difficulties and is clearly trusted by the government.
Kerlikowske criticized some of Scott’s previous actions, such as his decision to use tear gas into Mexico to disperse protesters while serving as sector chief for San Diego and his refusal to comply with a Biden administration directive to replace terms like “illegal alien” with “migrant.”
According to Kerlikowske, projectiles are not launched into foreign nations.
Scott defended the agents’ choices at the time, claiming that a hail of rocks was attacking them.
Kerlikowske emphasized the significance of other aspects of Customs and Border Protection’s job, even though the Trump administration may have placed a lot of emphasis on illegal immigration and border security.
The organization is in charge of protecting foreign travel and trade at all of the nation’s ports, airports, and land crossings. The person in charge of the agency must ensure that millions of travelers and billions of dollars’ worth of trade enter and exit the nation quickly and safely.
Additionally, CBP will be crucial in implementing any tariffs that Trump decides to increase on Canada, China, and Mexico.
According to Kerlikowske, there are a lot of other responsibilities related to trade, tourism, and cyberspace that require a lot of effort and, if done incorrectly, have a big effect on the economy.
Scott, who was expelled during the Biden administration, has been an outspoken advocate of Trump’s strict immigration policies. He has testified before Congress and made numerous appearances on Fox News. Additionally, he is a Texas Public Policy Foundation senior fellow.
He called for a return to Trump’s immigration policy and more pressure on Mexico to enforce immigration on its side of the border in an interview with The Associated Press in 2023.
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