Daniel Ragsdale

For the American football player, see Danny Ragsdale.

Daniel H. Ragsdale is an American lawyer and law enforcement official. From May 2012 through May 2017 he was deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He was named Acting Director of ICE on January 20, 2017, but was dismissed from that position on January 30, 2017 shortly after the dismissal of Sally Yates by President Donald Trump, retaining his post as deputy director. He is currently employed by GEO Group, a private-prison company.

Daniel Ragsdale
Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Acting
In office January 20, 2017 – January 30, 2017
President	Donald Trump
Preceded by	Sarah Saldaña
Succeeded by	Thomas Homan (acting)
Deputy Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
In office May 2012 – May 2017
President	Barack Obama Donald Trump
Preceded by	Kumar C. Kibble
Succeeded by	Ronald Vitiello
Personal details
Education	Franklin and Marshall College (BA) Fordham University (JD)

Education

Ragsdale is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College and holds a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law.^[1]

Career

Ragsdale joined the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (now Immigration & Customs Enforcement) in 1996, where he worked for the General Counsel's Office.^[2] He later became chief management officer of ICE, then chief of the Enforcement Law Division. Ragsdale became a deputy director of ICE in 2012. In 2013, his office worked to prosecute a smuggling ring which had been mislabeling the country-of-origin of honey, to skirt anti-dumping laws.^[3] In 2014 as deputy director of ICE he participated in a high-profile bust of an online child pornography ring.^[4]

He became acting director of ICE on January 20, 2017, following the inauguration of Donald Trump as president.^[2] Trump replaced Ragsdale with Thomas Homan on January 30, 2017, shortly after he fired Acting United States Attorney General Sally Yates.^[5][6][7] No explanation was given for the personnel change. Ragsdale retained his position of deputy director.^[5] The demotion of Ragsdale together with the firing of Yates has been referred to as the Monday Night Massacre.^[8]

In May 2017 he resigned from ICE to take a position with GEO Group, the second-largest private prison company in the country.^[9]

References

1. "Daniel H. Ragsdale, Deputy Director". U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
2. Darrough, Celia (January 31, 2017). "Who Is Daniel Ragsdale? Donald Trump Replaced The Immigration & Customs Enforcement Director, Too". Bustle. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
3. Mattingly, Phil (February 20, 2013). "Honey Sting Leads to U.S. Charges of Smuggling From China". Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
4. Bever, Lindsey (March 19, 2014). "U.S. authorities uncover alleged pornography ring exploiting hundreds of children". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 31, 2017. In a statement, ICE Deputy Director Daniel Ragsdale...
5. Morton, Victor. "Trump fires acting director of immigration enforcement". The Washington Times. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
6. @ICE (January 30, 2017). "Contrary to reporting, Daniel Ragsdale has been ICE deputy director for more than four years and remains deputy director" (Tweet). Retrieved January 30, 2017 – via Twitter.
7. Wilkie, Christina (January 30, 2017). "Trump Replaces ICE Chief Daniel Ragsdale, Appoints Thomas Homan". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
8. Davis, Benjamin G. (February 1, 2017). "Muslim Ban or Otherwise: Should a Bureaucrat Resign in Protest?". JURIST. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
9. Gilbert, Samuel (May 31, 2017). "The Immigrant Crackdown Is a Cash Cow for Private Prisons". Vice. Retrieved June 26, 2017.

External links

• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Daniel Ragsdale on LinkedIn

Government offices
Preceded by Sarah Saldaña	Acting Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement January 20, 2017 - January 30, 2017	Succeeded by Thomas Homan(Acting)