HARRIS COUNTY – President Joe Biden is intent on nominating Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzales to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Under the Department of Homeland Security.
Considering the history, it is a sudden change of direction, in that Gonzales took the Harris County Sheriff’s office out of a voluntary ICE program that would have had deputies fulfill the role of federal agents in jails.
Gonzales is an outspoken critic of families being separated at the border. He has never addressed the side issues of finding over 100,000 children alone without any parents abandoned on the border area.
He has stated, “True! We need common sense immigration reform, but taking children from their parents is wrong under any circumstances.”
Gonzalez started his career as a civilian employee in Houston Police Department, later he was a cop, then he rose to sergeant. He would rise to become a negotiator and later a homicide detective.
Gonzales became sheriff in 2017, prior to that he was on Houston City Council and once, in 2012, was pro-temp mayor of Houston.
Originally elected in 2016 as a reform candidate, Gonzales started reforming soon after taking office. He advanced programs to medicate mentally ill detainees.
Reelected in 2020 as Sheriff, Gonzales has maintained the most communicative HCSO in its history. Incidents are reported by the Sheriff’s Office as soon as they can be assessed.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced Gonzalez’s nomination: “Well, certainly we want– We encourage the Senate to not only consider but confirm qualified nominees. We certainly consider him one of them. But, the president looks forward to having someone in place in this position, and it certainly indicates a priority that we’ve put it out today.”