ICE Leadership

Derek N. Benner is currently the Executive Associate Director (EAD) for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), an organization with more than 10,300 positions, which includes more than 7,100 special agents who are assigned to 30 Special Agent in Charge (SAC) offices in major cities, over 210 other field offices throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Benner served as the Deputy EAD for HSI. As the investigative component of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), HSI’s investigative and enforcement initiatives and operations target cross-border criminal organizations that exploit America's legitimate trade, travel, financial and immigration systems for their illicit purposes.

Prior to this position, Mr. Benner served as the Assistant Director of Domestic Operations with oversight of HSI’s domestic field offices. Mr. Benner also served as SAC for HSI in San Diego. In this position, he oversaw one of HSI’s largest investigative offices in the nation, which includes a diverse cadre of federal agents, intelligence analysts, and professional administrative staff throughout San Diego and Imperial counties. He also oversaw a number of HSI-led multiagency tasks forces, which included state, local and federal law enforcement members working together to target cross-border criminal organizations that exploit the legitimate commercial trade, travel, and financial systems in the California/Mexico border region.

Prior to this assignment, Mr. Benner served in several key leadership positions at ICE Headquarters. As the Deputy Assistant Director of HSI’s Financial, Narcotics and Special Operations Division in Washington, D.C., he was responsible for the agency’s national financial fraud and narcotics smuggling programs. He also served as Chief of Staff to the Director of HSI and provided management oversight at the national level.

Mr. Benner began his law enforcement career with the U.S. Customs Service in 1991 as a co-op student. He worked at the San Ysidro Port of Entry as a Customs Inspector for two years before becoming a Marine Enforcement Officer and a Special Agent with the U.S. Customs Service’s Office of Investigations in San Diego. In 2002, Mr. Benner was promoted to the management ranks where he supervised agents assigned to the local maritime smuggling task force and managed the asset forfeiture, intelligence and administration programs as an Assistant SAC in San Diego.

Mr. Benner holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from George Mason University.

Ms. Staci A. Barrera is the Executive Associate Director (EAD) for Management and Administration (M&A) for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). M&A oversees ICE's budget, expenditures, accounting and finance, procurement, human resources and personnel, workforce recruitment, equal employment opportunity, information technology systems, facilities, property and equipment needs. In addition, Management and Administration identifies and tracks the agency's performance measurements.

Prior to this assignment, Ms. Barrera – a member of the Senior Executive Service – served as Assistant Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Mission Support, where she has acted as the primary advisor to the HSI EAD on all administrative and management matters since January 2008. In that capacity, she was also responsible for a budget of more than $2 billion (from multiple sources) and approximately 150 employees.

In addition to Ms. Barrera’s HSI responsibilities, she also accepted two detail assignments: Acting Deputy EAD for M&A (July 2017 to October 2017) and Acting Human Capital Officer (October 2014 to September 2015). In both those detail assignments, Ms. Barrera demonstrated strong leadership, sound judgement, and expertise in overseeing a myriad of administrative programs supporting an ICE workforce of nearly 20,000 employees around the world.

Ms. Barrera has more than 26 years of government service. Prior to joining ICE in 2008, Ms. Barrera held a number of key leadership positions in the federal government. She served in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Executive Office for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, first as Associate Director and then as the Deputy Director, overseeing OCDETF’s national efforts, including budget, strategic planning and performance activities, the Attorney General’s Consolidated Priority Organization Target list, the State and Local Overtime program, and the Strike Force program. Ms. Barrera was also responsible for spearheading OCDETF’s efforts to create the OCDETF Fusion Center (OFC), a multi-agency, intelligence center focused on supporting drug and money laundering investigations.

Ms. Barrera holds a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in criminal justice from Northeastern University.

Waldemar Rodriguez is the Associate Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) and is responsible for overseeing OPR’s efforts to ensure ICE’s organizational integrity through a multi-layered approach of security operations, inspections and detention oversight, and investigations. OPR is responsible for impartially investigating allegations of serious employee and contractor misconduct, as well as other wrongdoing impacting ICE personnel and operations. OPR also provides senior executive leadership with independent reviews of ICE programs and operations, to ensure compliance with applicable policies, procedures, and detention standards. Additionally, OPR is responsible for ICE’s personnel, physical, and administrative security programs which protect ICE personnel, facilities, classified information and security systems, against both internal and external threats.

Prior to his assignment with OPR, Mr. Rodriguez was the Special Agent in Charge of ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, Texas and held various key leadership positions at ICE Headquarters in Washington, D.C., including Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) for Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) Transnational Crime and Public Safety Division, DAD for HSI Domestic Operations, Acting DAD for the HSI Workforce Management Division, and Unit Chief for the HSI Workforce Management Staffing Solutions Unit.

Mr. Rodriguez’ HSI field assignments include service as a Group Supervisor in the SAC San Juan office, and as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Laredo, Texas.

Mr. Rodriguez began his law enforcement career in 1991 as a police officer with the Puerto Rico Police Department, where he served as a criminal investigator in the Criminal Intelligence Bureau and task force officer with the Drug Enforcement Administration. In 1997, Mr. Rodriguez entered federal service as a Special Agent with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In 2001, he transferred to the former U.S. Customs Service as a Special Agent.

Mr. Rodriguez was promoted into the Senior Executive Service in August 2011. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences from the University of Turabo and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Puerto Rico.