Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons is leaving the Department of Homeland Security, the new head of the DHS stated Thursday.
Subscribe to learn this story ad-free
Get limitless entry to ad-free articles and unique content material.
“Thanks to his leadership, American communities are safer,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated in a press release. “We wish him luck on his next opportunity in the private sector.”
Lyons’ final day will likely be May 31, Mullin stated. He didn’t say why Lyons is leaving.
Lyons has been the performing head throughout ICE’s controversial mass immigration crackdowns that focused Democratic-run cities throughout the Trump administration.
The crackdowns generated livid protests, and federal brokers shot and killed two U.S. residents in Minneapolis this 12 months.
President Donald Trump appointed Lyons performing director in March 2025, succeeding Caleb Vitello, who was reassigned. He appointed Mullin, a U.S. senator from Oklahoma and political ally, final month after he fired Kristi Noem. The Senate confirmed Mullin on March 23.
Mullin didn’t say in his assertion who will lead ICE.
Trump promised large-scale deportations of folks in the nation illegally throughout his presidential marketing campaign, however the mass crackdowns angered some who stated brokers had been sweeping up long-standing residents somewhat than violent criminals.
At a congressional hearing in February, Lyons stated ICE made 379,000 arrests throughout the first 12 months of the Trump administration and eliminated over 475,000 folks from the U.S.
Lyons declined at the listening to to apologize for the deadly shootings of the two U.S. residents, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who had been killed in separate incidents in Minneapolis in January.
White House border czar Tom Homan stated Thursday that below Lyons’ management, “ICE achieved a record number of removals in the first year of this Administration, despite unprecedented challenges.”
“I commend him for a distinguished law enforcement career and the countless contributions he has made to protect our country and advance its interests,” Homan stated.
White House adviser Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner, stated in a press release: “Todd is a phenomenal patriot and dedicated leader who has been at the center of President Trump’s historic efforts to secure our homeland and reverse the Democrats’ sinister border invasion.”
