Vietnamese Refugee Appointed the New Acting Director of ICE

A Vietnamese refugee is taking over Immigration and Customs Enforcement as the agency’s new acting director.

Director in an “acting capacity”: Tony Pham, who was previously ICE’s leading prosecutor, has been tapped by the Trump administration to replace career official Matt Albence, reports the Washington Examiner.

Pham’s appointment, officials confirmed Tuesday, comes as ICE facilities face backlash for their handling of COVID-19 in immigration detention centers as well as a reduction in the number of immigrants allowed into the country, BuzzFeed reported.
“As a seasoned leader with DHS, Tony will ensure ICE continues to safeguard our country’s borders from crime and illegal immigration,” an ICE spokesperson said.
Pham will reportedly be leading the agency “in an acting capacity” by becoming the latest “senior official performing the duties of the director.”
In assuming his new office, he will vacate his previous post as ICE’s principal legal advisor.
Pham will have a bigger responsibility for running ICE, which oversees the largest immigration detention system in the world.

Seasoned leader: In 1975, Pham and his family came to the United States as refugees from Vietnam. Pham’s family became U.S. citizens 10 years later.

According to an email he sent to ICE attorneys at the start of his career with the agency, he pointed out his family followed the “lawful path to citizenship.”
Pham earlier worked as a prosecutor for eight years before serving as an attorney for local government offices in Richmond, Virginia.
He was eventually assigned to oversee the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail.
As superintendent, Pham said he tried to make reforms in the facility.
“I owe a debt for my freedoms and opportunities which must be repaid. I do so by committing to my community as a dutiful citizen and to pass along my experiences and opportunities to serve those around me,” Pham wrote in his bio.

Feature Image via ICE

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