OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Troy Miller, who led U.S. Customs and Border Protection during much of President Joe Biden’s term, announced he will retire at the end of December.
Miller oversaw the largest federal law enforcement agency during a period of record illegal border crossings and considerable disaffection among Border Patrol agents.
Miller was never nominated for commissioner but held the top post as a “Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner.” CBP has not appointed an interim replacement.
President-elect Donald Trump will select former Border Patrol commander Rodney Scott for the Senate-confirmed commissioner position. After retiring in 2021, Scott has been a frequent Fox News contributor and Biden opponent.
Miller, a career official who shunned partisanship, was restrained and prioritized law enforcement over border politics. Most of his work was with CBP’s Office of Field Operations, whose blue-uniformed officers patrol U.S. airports, border crossings, and customs inspection facilities.
President-elect Donald Trump has said that he picked Rodney Scott, who used to be the head of the Border Patrol, for the position of commissioner.
Scott would need to be confirmed by the Senate. Since he retired in 2021, Scott has been a regular guest on Fox News and a vocal critic of Biden.
As a professional official, Miller did everything he could to avoid looking like he had a political agenda. He was known for being quiet and putting law enforcement tasks ahead of border politics. He worked for a long time at CBP’s Office of Field Operations, which is where the blue-shirted officers who work at U.S. airports, border crossings, and customs screening points are stationed.
Illegal crossings from Mexico averaged 2 million per year between 2021 and 2023, the highest levels ever recorded.
“Miller has overseen CBP’s efforts to interdict more illegal fentanyl and contraband along the Mexico border through a major expansion of powerful, next-generation scanning equipment for trucks and vehicles arriving at official crossings, known as ports of entry,” the Washington Post reported.
“His career at CBP was defined by the reorganization of U.S. border security operations in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He helped established and lead the National Targeting Center in Sterling, Virginia, which functions as the centralized hub for CBP’s efforts to assess and screen passengers and cargo heading into the United States from abroad. He later ran CBP’s sprawling New York field office,” the outlet added.
Earlier this month, Trump has confirmed his plan to initiate mass deportations once back in office, top aides have said.
Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s national campaign press secretary, stated that Trump’s overwhelming victory serves as a clear endorsement of the policies he championed throughout his campaign.
“The American people delivered a resounding victory for President Trump, and it gives him a mandate to govern as he campaigned, to deliver on the promises that he made,” Leavitt said, according to Newsweek.
“Which include, on Day One, launching the largest mass deportation operation of illegal immigrants that Kamala Harris has allowed into this country. It includes drill, baby drill, and expediting permits for nuclear, for fossil fuels, for an above-all energy approach that’s going to bring down the cost of living in this country,” she said.
Trump will begin operations to deport millions of undocumented immigrants when he starts his term, campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday morning.
He’ll launch the “largest mass deportation operation” of undocumented immigrants on Day 1.https://t.co/O5hbjaIY0e
— Axios (@axios) November 6, 2024
“It includes, on Day One, bringing Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table to end this war and returning to the very tough sanctions on the Iranian regime, so we can stop the chaos in the Middle East,” she said.
Advisers have also said that Trump wants new laws from a potentially GOP-controlled Congress as well to keep the border strong so that a future president cannot simply reverse his policies again.
“Also we can get a lot of the energy exploration going, which, of course that will help with bringing down the cost of things and stop the out-of-control inflation that we’ve seen,” Miller added.
Trump stated that securing the border and removing criminal illegal immigrants are among his top priorities for America.
“We obviously have to make the border strong and powerful and, and we have to — at the same time, we want people to come into our country,” he said in a Thursday interview, according to NBC.
“And you know, I’m not somebody that says, ‘No, you can’t come in.’ We want people to come in,” he stated further, echoing most other Republicans who have said that legal immigration is the way to come to America.
Tom Homan, Trump’s former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who on Monday was named the new administration’s “border czar,” previewed what deportations would look like during an interview on CNN last month.
“It’s not gonna be — a mass sweep of neighborhoods. It’s not gonna be building concentration camps. I’ve read it all. It’s ridiculous,” Homan said.
“They’ll be targeted arrests. We’ll know who we’re going to arrest, where we’re most likely to find ‘em based on numerous, you know, investigative processes,” he said.
