(CNN) — John Morton, the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will leave his post at the end of July to take a position at a private company, ICE’s office of public affairs said Monday.
Appointed by President Barack Obama in May 2009, he is the third and longest serving director in the agency’s history, according to ICE.
In a note to employees, Morton thanked them for their hard work. The agency removed more than 400,000 individuals last year.
In February, ICE came under fire for releasing several hundred detainees to “less costly” forms of supervision in February ahead of pending budget cuts.
