WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s choose to guide U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has pulled his identify from consideration after greater than a 12 months handed and not using a Senate affirmation vote.
Biden had twice tapped Ed Gonzalez, the sheriff of Harris County, Texas, to be the Department of Homeland Security’s prime immigration officer, first in 2021 after which once more in January after the preliminary nomination expired.
ICE has not had a Senate-confirmed director because the Obama administration.
NBC News obtained a duplicate of Gonzalez’s letter to Biden, dated Saturday, which stated he has concluded that “I must devote my full, undivided attention and energy toward fulfilling the duties that the people of Harris County elected me to perform.”
Gonzalez, who has led the biggest sheriff’s workplace in Texas since 2017, additionally introduced that he had pulled his nomination Monday in a statement on Twitter.
“I arrived at this decision after prayerfully considering what’s best for our nation, my family, and the people of Harris County who elected me to serve a second term as Sheriff,” Gonzalez stated. “I am grateful to President Biden for the honor of nominating me, and I wish this administration well as it strives to overcome the paralyzing political gridlock that threatens far more than our nation’s border. Frankly, the dysfunction threatens America’s heart and soul. My love for America and my desire to serve during these contentious times is stronger than ever.”
The lack of a affirmation vote for greater than a 12 months suggests the Senate was unlikely to approve Gonzalez for the job.
Earlier this 12 months, when he was scheduled to get a vote, a Republican senator sent a letter to top Democrats about earlier home abuse allegations involving Gonzalez.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee stated it had appeared into the claims of home abuse involving the sheriff’s spouse, Melissa Gonzalez, and located that the allegations weren’t corroborated.
Gonzalez’s spouse offered an announcement in March “denying the allegations, she spoke at length with committee staff and unequivocally denied making a domestic violence complaint against Sheriff Gonzalez,” stated a duplicate of the report from the committee’s Democratic majority employees.
But the Senate didn’t transfer ahead with a affirmation vote.
A White House spokesman stated Monday that Gonzalez “has the qualifications and experience to do this important job and would have been a great leader of ICE” and blasted “baseless allegations” that emerged in opposition to him.
There aren’t any indications Gonzalez’s choice to withdraw was tied to the claims.
The White House has not introduced whom Biden intends to appoint as ICE director.
Kelly O’Donnell and Julia Ainsley contributed.