WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Madison Sheahan is leaving the agency and running for Congress, she said in social media posts on Thursday.
Sheahan,
28, joined ICE early last year and was a close ally of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Sheahan plans to run to represent Ohio's 9th District in the U.S. House of Representatives, challenging Democratic Representative Marcy Kaptur, she said.
ICE has been at the forefront of President Donald Trump's wide-ranging immigration crackdown over the past year, as the Republican president has surged officers to Democratic-led U.S. cities in a bid to drive up deportations. The agency has faced particular scrutiny in the past week after an ICE officer in Minneapolis fatally shot Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three.
On Wednesday night, an ICE officer shot a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis during an enforcement operation, adding to tensions in the city, where residents have taken to frigid streets to protest Trump's immigration sweeps.
The aggressive enforcement tactics - with ICE and Border Patrol agents tackling suspected immigration offenders in public and spraying chemical irritants at protesters - have fueled violent encounters, current and former ICE officials told Reuters.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"We have been empowered to put the safety of the American people first," Sheahan wrote. "Together, we strengthened our agency, restored its purpose, and set a new standard for excellence."
Some current and former ICE officials bristled at the Trump administration's decision last year to install Sheahan as a senior official given her lack of experience with ICE and limited law enforcement credentials.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson; Editing by Scott Malone)
