Union-Backed Ronald Vitiello Named to Lead Border Patrol

This undated photo provided by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows Ronald Vitiello. Vitiello, a career Border Patrol official who was backed by the agents' union, was named Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, as chief of the agency, less than a week after his predecessor resigned under pressure. U.S. Customs and Border Protection via AP

A career Border Patrol official who was backed by the agents’ union has been named chief of the agency, less than a week after his predecessor resigned under pressure.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Ronald Vitiello was appointed Tuesday to lead the agency at a time when President Donald Trump has pledged to erect a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico and add 5,000 agents from the current level of about 20,000.

The National Border Patrol Council—an early and outspoken backer of Trump’s presidential bid—openly supported Vitiello for the job and pushed for the ouster of his predecessor, Mark Morgan, who resigned Thursday at the request of the new administration. Morgan stepped down only seven months after being named the first outsider to run the agency since it was created in 1924.

Vitiello, who was most recently CBP’s executive assistant commissioner for operations support, was acting Border Patrol chief when Morgan was appointed last year and had been considered a leading contender for the job then. He joined the Border Patrol more than 30 years ago and served as deputy chief in the administration of President Barack Obama.

Brandon Judd, the union president, said in an interview days before Trump took office that Morgan never had the support of agents.

Border Patrol Deputy Chief Ronald Vitiello and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Executive Associate Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations Tom Homan prepare to testify before the House Judiciary Committee about a surge of unaccompanied Central American minors who have been crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on June 25, 2014. Laying blame with the Obama Administration, the committee heard testimony from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and others about the more than 52,000 immigrant children who have crossed the border alone since October of 2013. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images