WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd Lyons, a key executor of President Donald Trump’s mass deportations agenda, will resign at the end of May, federal officials announced Thursday.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin described Lyons as a great leader of ICE who helped to make American communities safer.
“We wish him luck on his next opportunity in the private sector,” Mullin said in a statement.
Lyons’ last day will be May 31, according to Mullin.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson described Lyons in a post on X as “an American patriot who made our country safer.”
It was not immediately clear why Lyons was resigning, nor who would be replacing him.
Lyons, who joined ICE in 2007 as an immigration enforcement agent in Texas, led the agency at the center of Trump’s plans to reshape immigration to the U.S.
Under his leadership, the agency was granted a massive infusion of cash through Congress, which it used to expand hiring and detention capabilities. ICE under Lyons also ramped up arrests to meet demand from the administration. Lyons signed off on a memo, first obtained by The Associated Press, that granted federal immigration officers sweeping powers to forcibly enter homes and make arrests without a judge’s warrant.
ICE was also central to a series of high-profile immigration enforcement operations in American cities, including Chicago and Minneapolis, a deployment that ended after backlash erupted over the deaths of two American protesters.
Public perceptions of ICE under Lyons were low. In a February AP-NORC poll, most U.S. adults, including independents, said they have an unfavorable view of the agency.
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan described Lyons as serving selflessly and “a highly respected and effective acting Director of ICE.”
