Mark Morgan and Manny Padilla are at the top of the White House list of candidates to replace outgoing acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner John Sanders, according to three sources with firsthand knowledge of the discussions.
Morgan, who was recently tapped as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, had been serving as national chief of the U.S. Border Patrol for three months when Trump fired him at the beginning of 2017. Morgan emerged as a commentator on Fox News late last year and has since made a name for himself by endorsing President Trump’s policies. He was tapped as the temporary head of ICE in early May.
The second official in line is Manuel “Manny” Padilla, a 30-year Border Patrol employee based in Washington. Padilla was tapped in early April to head the department’s border crisis cell. In this role, he is responsible for improving the sharing of information and coordinating support among DHS agencies, including ICE, CBP, Citizenship and Immigration Services, and others.
Acting CBP Commissioner Sanders Stepping Down After Two Months on Job