Trump taps former Obama Border Patrol chief Mark Morgan to run ICE

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By Allan Smith

President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that he is nominating Mark Morgan, who briefly ran the Border Patrol under President Barack Obama, to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Trump tweeted Sunday that he was “pleased to inform all of those that believe in a strong, fair and sound Immigration Policy that Mark Morgan will be joining the Trump Administration as the head of our hard working men and women of ICE.”

Bloomberg reported last week that Morgan was under consideration for the job.

Morgan reportedly was asked to resign from his prior post in January 2017, just days into Trump’s administration. Since leaving the government, Morgan has taken to TV punditry and expressed support for Trump’s immigration policies, particularly his proposed wall along the southern border.

The nomination comes a month after Trump’s former acting director of ICE, Ronald Vitiello, resigned after Trump told reporters he was pulling his nomination because the president wanted someone “tougher.”

Trump tweeted days later that Morgan had sent him a message telling him to “stay the course.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and other top immigration officials were also pushed out of the department last month.

source: nbcnews.com