One thing about presidential administrations is there are going to be personnel changes, and that is true of the Trump administration as well.
Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), announced on Friday that he is stepping down after leading the agency during President Donald Trump’s second term. From the sound of things, per various reports, it seems like Lyons was having some difficulty keeping up with the president’s desired pace of deportations – understandable, given all of the legal roadblocks Democrats and their hand-picked federal judges have been throwing up.
But it also doesn’t sound like Lyons is leaving in a huff; in fact, he’s agreed to stay on until May 31:
Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons is stepping down from his role later this spring, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced Thursday.
Lyons, a veteran of the federal agency, was tasked with overseeing the Trump administration’s mass deportation plan as the acting ICE chief, placing him under immense scrutiny as the agency ramped up arrests last year and on the heels of the shootings of two US citizens by federal agents in January.
In a statement, Mullin called Lyons a “great leader of ICE and key player in helping the Trump administration remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members from American communities.”
Mullin noted that Lyons plans to move into the private sector after his departure. But there is no indication of who will replace him. ICE has not had a Senate-confirmed leader since the Obama administration.
Fox News correspondent Kevin Corke confirms a major shakeup in Washington. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons has abruptly resigned after executing half a million deportations under Donald Trump. The sudden departure exposes the deep instability plaguing the administration. pic.twitter.com/SbkRlGY453
— Furkan Gözükara (@FurkanGozukara) April 17, 2026
ICE acting director Todd Lyons will resign at end of May, DHS says – The Associated Press
He's doing a hell of a job! And he will be missed. He's going back to work in the private sector. https://t.co/lcKNUVez43
— Ron Smith (@LostkeysBH) April 17, 2026
Under his leadership, the agency received a substantial budget increase from Congress. This funding enabled the agency to hire more officers, expand detention facilities, and enhance immigration enforcement operations in cities like Chicago, Minneapolis, and others.
Prior to his role as acting ICE director, Lyons dedicated nearly two decades to working for the agency after serving in the Air Force. He joined ICE in 2007 as an enforcement agent in Texas and eventually advanced to the position of field office director for Enforcement and Removal Operations in Boston, where he was responsible for overseeing arrests and deportations throughout New England.
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