Departing ICE Director P.J. Lechlietner Says Biden Should Have Done More To Tighten The Border Sooner

P.J. Lechleitner, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a recent interview that President Joe Biden should have acted to tighten border security sooner to reduce migrants coming into the United States.

Lechleitner became director in July 2023 and is preparing to leave the job before the new administration brings its own hardliners in. He said the increased number of migrants was stressful for his agency, and he is not alone in feeling Biden should have moved faster – many Democrats agree with him.

In June, Biden took executive action to restrict people illegally crossing the border, which resulted in only 54,000 crossing in September, which was the lowest since he took office. The president did so only after political pressure grew unbearable and a bipartisan border deal fell apart.

The restriction was so impactful that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) couldn’t fill buses of migrants to send to asylum cities as he had done frequently in the past.

Lechleitner has been with the Department of Homeland Security since its establishment in 2003, serving under Republican and Democratic administrations.

As ICE director for the past year, Lechleitner repeatedly asked for more resources for the agency to effectively remove migrants. He also wishes Biden’s administration was more explicit with the public about immigration issues.

“They should have allowed us more opportunity to explain what we’re doing and explain the hard work that ICE is doing and CBP is doing. Let us talk. Let us demystify. Because, if not, people are going to just make their own stories up about what’s going on, and it’s going to be more problematic,” Lechleitner told NBC News.

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