ICE chief to depart agency
ICE chief to depart agency
By Priscilla Alvarez and Geneva Sands, CNN
Updated 11:09 PM ET, Thu July 30, 2020
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(CNN)Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Matt Albence is retiring from the agency he has led since last year, according to a Department of Homeland Security official.
A longtime career law enforcement official, Albence has filled the top spot at the agency multiple times during the Trump administration as leadership at ICE -- an agency under DHS -- has shifted.
Albence has filled the top role since his predecessor Mark Morgan moved to ICE's sister agency, Customs and Border Protection, last summer.
He also briefly led the agency last year amid a department-wide leadership shake-up that included the forced resignation of then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and sudden withdrawal of Ron Vitiello's nomination to the role.
The Washington Examiner first reported on Albence's retirement. CNN has reached out to ICE for comment.
Albence's move into the director role often put him at the center of President Donald Trump's key campaign issue and left him defending an agency that is often criticized for its role in immigration enforcement.
Most recently, the agency came under fire for issuing guidance that would have barred international students from staying in the US if they take only online courses.
The agency rescinded the policy after a series of lawsuits and outrage from universities, which have gradually moved to online-only courses due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Albence has worked in federal immigration enforcement since 1994, when he began as a special agent with the former US Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Before serving as director, Albence led ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations, which is responsible for identifying, arresting and deporting undocumented immigrants.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/polit...ice/index.html
