HOUSTON (AP) – President Joe Biden has nominated the sheriff of one of the nation’s most populous counties to lead the agency that deports people in the country illegally. Harris County, Texas, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez is Biden’s pick for director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency that has been without a Senate-confirmed leader since 2017. Gonzalez strongly criticized former President Donald Trump for his hardline immigration policies. After his election in 2016, Gonzalez fulfilled a campaign promise to withdraw Harris County from a federal partnership that authorizes sheriff’s deputies to enforce immigration laws.
