Tae Johnson

Tae D. Johnson served as the acting Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) until his retirement on July 3, 2023. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Johnson served in the role of the ICE Deputy Director. Mr. Johnson executed oversight of ICE’s day-to-day operations, leading approximately 20,000 employees including more than 7,000 criminal investigators in Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and 6,000 officers in Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Mr. Johnson administered operational and mission support personnel assigned to more than 400 domestic and international offices and oversaw an annual budget of over $8 billion. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Johnson served as Deputy Executive Associate Director for ERO. In this role, Mr. Johnson was responsible for the oversight, direction, and coordination of ERO in its mission to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of aliens who undermine the safety of our communities and the integrity of our immigration laws. Mr. Johnson managed a budget of approximately $4.4 billion and lead an organization of more than 7,900 employees assigned to 24 ERO field offices and six headquarters divisions, in more than 200 domestic locations and 25 overseas locations. Prior to this position, Mr. Johnson served as the Assistant Director for ERO’s Custody Management Division, which provided policy and oversight for the administrative custody of about 40,000 detainees daily and roughly 500,000 detainees annually, at approximately 250 facilities nationwide. Mr. Johnson began his federal career in Salisbury, Maryland, in 1992 with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) as a co-op student trainee. Over the past 30 years, Mr. Johnson performed many front line, supervisory, and management functions within INS and ICE. Mr. Johnson transferred to ICE headquarters in 2007 where he served as detention and deportation officer, Unit Chief, Chief of Staff, and Special Assistant among other positions prior to becoming the Assistant Director for ERO’s Custody Management Division. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Salisbury University. Mr. Johnson is a Presidential Rank Award recipient and retired as a member of the Senior Executive Service.