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Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said he has withdrawn from consideration to be the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, more than a year after he was nominated by President Biden to the post.
Gonzalez tweeted on Monday that he “arrived at this decision after prayerfully considering what’s best for our nation, my family, and the people of Harris County.”
“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,” Gonzalez said in the statement on social media. “Frankly, the dysfunction threatens America’s heart and soul.”
US-MEXICO BORDER CONTINUES TO BREAK RECORDS FOR MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS
Gonzalez, the sheriff of Texas’s largest county, noted that his nomination has stalled for over a year and that the U.S. Senate hasn’t confirmed an ICE director since the Biden administration.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez speaks to voters outside a polling station in Field Elementary School in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. (Sharon Steinmann/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., raised concerns about Gonzalez’s nomination in March over domestic abuse allegations against the sheriff and called on Democrats to delay the vote.
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Gonzalez’s withdrawal comes amid a surge of migrants crossing the southern border. Customs and Border Protection counted a record 239,416 migrant encounters in May, eclipsing the previous record of 235,478 encounters in April.