CGA Team
Patrick Lechleitner,
Senior Advisor
Patrick J. Lechleitner is a retired United States senior federal executive who left government as the Acting Director and permanent Deputy Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Mr. Lechleiter has over 32 years of government service in the national security and public safety/security areas. As the Acting Director of ICE, Mr. Lechleitner was responsible for providing strategic leadership, direction, and oversight to a workforce of more than 21,000 employees. Through their work, he was responsible for an agency tasked with enforcing our nation’s more than 400 federal statutes related to combating transnational crime, customs enforcement, immigration enforcement, and preventing terrorism.
Previously, Mr. Lechleitner served as the Executive Associate Director for HSI. HSI is the principal investigative component of the Department of Homeland Security, responsible for investigating, disrupting, and dismantling transnational criminal organizations and terrorist networks that threaten or seek to exploit the customs and immigration laws of the United States. HSI’s workforce consists of over 10 thousand employees, including special agents, criminal analysts, mission support personnel, and contract staff assigned to over 220 offices throughout the United States and over 50 countries worldwide.
Throughout his career, Mr. Lechleitner held several key leadership positions for HSI. Mr. Lechleitner served as the Assistant Director for HSI’s International Operations Division and the Special Agent in Charge for HSI Washington, D.C. Mr. Lechleitner also served as the Acting Assistant Director for the National Security Investigations Division as well as the Deputy Assistant Director overseeing HSI’s Cyber Crimes Division and Forensic Lab.
Prior to becoming a special agent with the U.S. Customs Service and then HSI in Philadelphia, PA, Mr. Lechleitner was a Fairfax County Police Officer in Fairfax, VA. Before starting his law enforcement career, Mr. Lechleitner was a member of the U.S. military, where he served as a U.S. Navy signals intelligence specialist supporting national security interests.
Mr. Lechleitner holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from George Mason University in Virginia (cum laude), a Master of Arts degree in Criminology from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia (magna cum laude), and a graduate certificate in Executive Leadership from American University in Washington, D.C. He was a member of the Senior Executive Service, is a Senior DHS Fellow, and a recipient of a Distinguished Presidential Rank Award in 2022.