Washington DC - Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Thursday that Charles Wall will take over as new deputy director of ICE.

"Effective immediately, Charles Wall will serve as the Deputy Director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement," Noem said in a statement.

"Mr. Wall has served as an ICE attorney for 14 years and is a forward leaning, strategic thinker who understands the importance of prioritizing the removal of murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists from our country," she added, echoing racist rhetoric the Trump administration has employed as part of its wide-ranging assault on immigrant communities.

Wall has been at ICE since 2012 and was previously the agency's principal legal adviser.

His appointment comes after former Deputy Director Madison Sheahan announced she was leaving ICE to run for Congress in Ohio's 9th district.

Meanwhile, protests are continuing throughout the US in opposition to the Trump administration's mass detentions and deportations.

Public outrage escalated after an ICE agent last week fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in her car in Minneapolis. The Trump administration has labeled the mother-of-three a "domestic terrorist" and claimed she attacked ICE agents, despite video evidence to the contrary.

The Department of Homeland Security has deployed around 2,000 officers to Minneapolis and St. Paul, with another 1,000 soon set to join them.