Ron Vitiello
Director, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Ronald D. Vitiello became the Acting Deputy Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on April 25, 2017.
Since February 1, 2017, he has been the Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol. As its chief operating officer, he was responsible for the daily operations of the U.S. Border Patrol and reported to the Commissioner of CBP, assisting in planning and directing nationwide enforcement and administrative operations.
Chief Vitiello entered on duty with the Border Patrol in 1985 as a member of Class 174. His first duty assignment as a Border Patrol agent was at the Laredo Station in the Laredo Sector, where he also served as a Supervisory Border Patrol Agent. As an agent and supervisor, he participated in Special Response Team operations and was instrumental in the formation of the Laredo Sector Criminal Alien Program.
In June 1997, he served as a Deputy Assistant Regional Director for the Border Patrol at the Central Region Office in Dallas, Texas, where he oversaw the regional implementation of Operation Rio Grande. In June 2000, he was selected as a Special Operations Supervisor at the Nogales Station in the Tucson Sector. During his time in Arizona, Chief Vitiello worked extensively in the Tucson Sector Community Relations Office. He was later promoted to Assistant Patrol Agent in Charge of the Nogales Station.
In November 2002, he was selected as an Assistant Chief at U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters. While at Headquarters, Chief Vitiello was one of the key contributors in the unification of CBP and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.
In January 2005, he was promoted to Chief Patrol Agent of the Swanton Sector in Vermont and held that position until July 2007, when he was selected as a member of the Senior Executive Service and promoted to Chief Patrol Agent of the Rio Grande Valley Sector in Texas. There, Chief Vitiello was appointed as the Lead U.S. CBP Hurricane Preparedness Coordinator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Region VI. He was responsible for deploying personnel and resources to a national domestic incident site, representing the CBP Commissioner as the Lead Field Coordinator, and leading more than 12,000 CBP employees in Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
In 2010, he was assigned as the Deputy Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol until July 2016, when he was promoted to the Executive Assistant Commissioner of Operations Support.
Ronald D. Vitiello is 53 years old, married with two children, and a native of Chicago, Illinois.
