Refugee appointed new chief of US ICE immigration agency

Comments by Sanwar Ali:

Some Asian American advocates have been critical of the appointment of Tony Pham to head ICE who fled Saigan, Vietnam in 1975.  Apparently there has been a significant increase in deportations of Southeast Asians during the Trump administration.  Early in August 2020 ICE removed 30 Vietnamese including refugees that were thought to be protected under the 2008 agreement with Vietnam.

Tracy La, the executive director of the California-based VietRISE, told NBC Asian America the following:

“Trump appointing a refugee as the head of an agency that consistently violates the rights of refugees is a tactic commonly used to divide our communities..”

Perhaps surprisingly, there is a great deal of animosity towards Phang amongst the Vietnamese community in the US.  They feel that he is part of the Trump anti-immigrant system.  Roland Hwang, the vice president of public affairs for OCA–Asian Pacific American Advocates (AAPI) had the following to say:

“We hope Mr. Pham will remember his refugee roots, and Vietnamese American immigrant community, to counteract the Trump administration's anti-immigrant agenda.”

Tony Pham, the top lawyer at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been appointed as the new chief of the agency. Pham will replace Matt Albence, who announced that he would be retiring from the role in July. Pham, who arrived in the United States as a refugee, formerly served as ICE’s principal legal adviser.

In a statement released by ICE, the agency said: “As a seasoned leader with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Tony will ensure ICE continues to safeguard our country's borders from crime and illegal immigration.”

Pham, who only joined ICE in January 2020, will now become the senior official for the agency and perform the duties of the director, managing around 20,000 staff that work for ICE.

Personnel changes at ICE following Matt Albence retirement

This is the latest DHS personnel change announcement, with the agency undergoing a number of staff changes in recent weeks. Chad Wolf, who has been serving as DHS secretary on an acting basis for the past 10 months has now been nominated by US President, Donald Trump, to take up the role permanently.

Under the Trump administration, all three US immigration agencies have been led by individuals in an acting capacity.

Former acting director, Matt Albence, said when stepping down: “This was an exceptionally hard decision to make, a decision prolonged due to the uncertainty of a global pandemic and the essential role ICE continues to play in our nation’s response.”

Albence, a long-time career enforcement official, had led ICE in an acting capacity multiple times during Trump’s presidency. ICE has been at the center of Trump’s controversial immigration policies since he took office.

Pham a Trump political appointee

Prior to serving with ICE, Pham worked as the superintendent of the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail and, according to his bio, he has served as a special assistant US attorney. In contrast to other top officials at ICE, Pham is a political appointee, according to a report published by CNN.

A senior Homeland Security official said: “Tony Pham is ‘very much aligned’ with the current administration.” The official added “as general counsel at ICE, he is an ally of Chad Mizelle, the department’s top lawyer.”

“Albence will certainly be missed. It was always good to have someone that was able to offer a viewpoint that wasn't always well received but was always accurate and consistent and took care of law enforcement personnel,” the official said.

Tony Pham was a Vietnamese refugee

Pham was born in Saigon, Vietnam and came to the US as a refugee in the 1970s before becoming a US official in 1985. His bio on the US government website says: “When we came to this nation seeking hope and opportunity as refugees, I signed a promissory note to America. 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,” his bio says.

Pham is considered to be a popular character and brought about a number of reforms during his role as superintendent at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail, where he introduced an inmate addiction recovery program called ‘We Are In This Together’.

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