The Trump administration appointed a criminal prosecutor as the new leader at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the departure of its sixth leader under President Trump, the Washington Examiner has learned.
Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf announced the promotion of acting ICE Principal Legal Adviser Jonathan Fahey in an email to staff Thursday afternoon, though it has yet to be publicly announced.
“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Jonathan Fahey as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Wolf wrote. “As a former criminal prosecutor, Jonathan brings a wealth of experience to the position. … I am confident he will successfully lead the men and women of ICE in their mission to keep Americans safe.”
Fahey, 48, was a criminal prosecutor at the federal and state level for nearly two decades prior to moving to ICE in March 2020. He will take over for exiting Senior Official Performing the Duties of Director Tony Pham, who was promoted to the role in September.
Fahey lives in northern Virginia, and he ran as an independent in 2019 for commonwealth’s attorney in Fairfax County, but he lost to Democrat Steve Descano. As a candidate, he said his top priorities included combating gang violence, responding to the opioid crisis, and working closely with law enforcement.
Prior to his run for office, Fahey was spent 17 years as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, where he focused on drug smugglers, human traffickers, and gang cases, according to an ICE biography. Fahey previously worked as an assistant prosecutor for the commonwealth attorney in Fairfax County and as a judicial law clerk for the Arlington Circuit Court. He graduated from James Madison University in Virginia and the University of San Diego School of Law in California.
A search of Federal Election Commission records revealed that Fahey made two donations totaling $285 to 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. He did not donate to President-elect Joe Biden or President Trump in 2016 or 2020.
Trump terminated Daniel Ragsdale from his position atop ICE in January 2017, and Tom Homan was nominated director. After a year and a half, Homan retired after going unconfirmed. Ron Vitiello, the second-in-command at fellow DHS agency Customs and Border Protection, was moved to ICE and nominated in June 2018 to run ICE. His nomination was pulled in April 2019, and ICE official Matthew Albence temporarily took over. Former Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan, who Trump fired in 2017, was hired at ICE in May 2019, but only stayed six weeks until he was moved to head CBP, the agency that oversees Border Patrol.
In July 2019, Albence was promoted again to ICE director. The Washington Examiner first reported in August that he planned to step down in September and that Tony Pham would be promoted in his place. Pham revealed in early December that he would leave at the end of the year.
Historically, officials overseeing an agency or department at the time a new presidential administration takes office are not asked to stay on in that role.
