Now, the Democratic lawman has been tapped to head the same federal agency he challenged under former President Donald Trump. 

President Joe Biden announced plans Tuesday to nominate the second-term sheriff first elected in 2016. If the U.S. Senate approves the nomination, Gonzalez will replace the federal agency’s acting director, Tae Johnson.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, whose agency oversees ICE and from whom Gonzalez would take cues, called Biden’s pick “a strong choice.”

“With a distinguished career in law enforcement and public service, Sheriff Gonzalez is well-suited to lead ICE as the agency advances our public safety and homeland security mission,” Mayorkas said in a statement. “I hope the Senate will swiftly confirm Sheriff Gonzalez to this critical position.” Democrats hold a slim advantage in the Senate.

The White House highlighted Gonzalez’s leadership at Texas’ largest sheriff’s office and noted that he started his career at the Houston Police Department. Gonzalez earlier served three terms with the Houston city council. 

Sheriff’s office officials declined to comment at this time and referred questions about the nomination to the White House. Among the sheriff’s last public appearances prior to the nomination was a Monday night reaction to the wounding of a 3-year-old girl struck by a stray bullet. Last week, the sheriff pledged changes to how body-worn camera footage is shared after a deputy shot and killed an armed man during an apparent mental health crisis. 

The nomination prompted a cascade of applause from Harris County officials, with District Attorney Kim Ogg saying Gonzalez “would be a great asset” to the Biden Administration. 

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo called Gonzalez her friend. 

“I’ll be sad for him to leave us, but President Biden will gain a compassionate, thoughtful and courageous leader,” Hidalgo said in a tweet. 

Under state law, Harris County Commissioners Court, which Hidalgo leads, will appoint Gonzalez’s replacement, who would then serve until the winning candidate from the November 2022 election is sworn in.

Gonzalez would be the second head of a major Houston law enforcement agency to leave this year. Former Houston Police Department Chief Art Acevedo is now chief of the Miami police department. 

Challenging ICE leadership

Gonzalez took office after defeating Republican Ron Hickman, his predecessor and a Commissioners Court appointee. The seat was vacated when former sheriff Adrian Garcia resigned to run, unsuccessfully, for Houston mayor. 

Garcia, now a Commissioners Court member, will be among the county government leaders to pick Gonzalez’s replacement. 

“He brings with him such a wealth of experience — the wealth of experience coming from the fact that he is a long-time law enforcement leader,” Garcia said. 

Past immigration enforcement leaders, Garcia said, have not brought that experience to the table. Garcia pointed to Gonzalez’s decision in 2017 to end the contested ICE partnership amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

“I supported him in abolishing that policy,” Garcia said. 

The office saved at least $675,000 by reassigning 10 deputies to other law enforcement duties, the sheriff said at the time. Ending the partnership, however, would not stop ICE officials from screening jail inmates themselves to determine their immigration status. If an immigration detainer was requested, the county would honor it, allowing the inmate to be held for deportation.

In 2019, Gonzalez also condemned ICE’s plan to arrest large numbers of immigrant families living without legal permission in Houston and other large cities. Gonzalez, who opted not to participate in the raids, argued that local involvement would “drive undocumented families further into the shadows” and damage community safety.

“It silences witnesses & victims & (would) further worsen the challenges law enforcement officials face,” Gonzalez tweeted at the time.

Immigrant advocates expressed guarded optimism about the Biden administration’s ICE choice. 

“We can attest to the fact that he has been and continues to be a man who listens to and takes input from the community,” Cesar Espinosa, FIEL executive director, said in a statement. “We understand that the role he is about to undertake is a huge and controversial role and we wish him well in this endeavor.”

Espinosa listed changes he would like ICE leadership to consider, such as ending immigration raids and the use of the 287(g) program elsewhere. Such a decision would now be in Gonzalez’s power should he be confirmed. The program — listed either as a jail enforcement model or warrant service officer model — is still in operation in 26 Texas counties, including Galveston and Montgomery, according to ICE’s website. 

César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a law professor at the University of Denver focused on immigration, noted Gonzalez’s “complicated history” with ICE, given his decision to end the 287(g) agreement.

“It will be interesting to see how much that decision is reflected in his work as head of ICE, assuming he confirmed by the Senate,” he said.

He also noted that while Gonzalez, if confirmed, would take over a significantly larger agency, his role would no longer be the top decision maker or policy setter. He would instead be taking direction from the White House or Mayorkas.

Andre Segura, legal director for the ACLU of Texas, said Gonzalez has “a large task ahead of him.”

Gonzalez’s decision to end 287(g) was a good move but it “didn’t go far enough.” The Texas Legislature’s passage of SB4 — requiring local governments and law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration officers — “tied the hands” of departments that might have preferred to avoid such collaborations.

As the head of ICE, Gonzalez now would have the opportunity to end such requests, he said.

“We’re calling for an end to all collaboration with ICE by local law enforcement,” he said, arguing that immigration enforcement by local police agencies encourages racial profiling and breeds distrust with immigrant communities.

Segura also noted that Gonzalez fought to improve conditions in the Harris County jail, and that COVID-19 had taken a significant toll on immigrants currently in ICE detention facilities.

“There are lots of things he will have the authority to improve,” he said, “We’ll see how he deals with that.”

Those seeking tighter enforcement were disappointed.

Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that advocates for stiff restrictions, called Gonzalez “a staunch opponent of our interior immigration enforcement” and said his nomination was part of Biden’s “unrelenting assault on the integrity of our immigration enforcement system.”

‘He understands people’

During Gonzalez’ first sheriff’s office run, the Harris County Deputies’ Organization backed his opponent. Once elected, he won rank-and-file support, union President David Cuevas said.

The sheriff made traffic safety a top priority during his tenure, frequently dashing to fatal crash scenes at all hours of the night and calling on local agencies to tackle the number of DWI deaths plaguing the region. 

And he attracted national attention when he testified in federal court against the county’s bail system — even though he was one of the defendants named in the suit.

“He has the attributes of a strong leader,” Cuevas said. “I think in this role or any role he chooses to undertake, he’s going to do well, because he understands people.”

Former Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske also remarked on Gonzalez’s compassion for inmates at Harris County’s jail, which holds about 8,000- 10,000 people on any given day. That trait would prove useful tackling in his new job, should he get it, running ICE’s detention operations, he said. 

Kerlikowske noted that Gonzalez adopted new treatments for inmates struggling with substance abuse during his five years in office. 

“He’s got excellent experience running one of the largest jails in the country,” he said.

The confirmation process would require senate approval. In a statement, a spokesperson for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said he would consider Gonzalez’s nomination. 

“Sen. Cruz takes every nomination under serious consideration, based on the merits of the individual, and will continue to do so with nominees moving forward,” the statement read. 

Jasper Scherer contributed to this report.

nicole.hensley@chron.com

st.john.smith@chron.com

The Associated Press contributed to this article.