Trump Names ICE Director
President Trump Names New Director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement
President Trump has named Lance Schroyer, a 29-year veteran of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, as his pick for permanent ICE director, according to Associated Press. The nomination comes on June 27, 2026, and ends a leadership void that has lasted nearly a decade — ICE has not had a Senate-confirmed director since early 2017.
Trump announced the pick on Truth Social, calling Schroyer a "PATRIOT with real operational experience" who will "DETAIN AND DEPORT Illegal Alien Criminals... at a rate never seen before." The agency has been under acting leadership through four administrations, drawing criticism from both parties for a lack of accountability.
Who Is Lance Schroyer and What He Stands For
Schroyer is a former U.S. Marine who spent 29 years rising to the rank of Major within the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, according to Newsweek. He most recently served as a senior advisor to the DHS Secretary. He is a strong backer of the 287(g) program — a federal rule that lets local police act as immigration agents and hand suspects over to ICE.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin praised Schroyer for his "firsthand experience" removing people under the 287(g) program and called on the Senate to "confirm him immediately," according to DHS. Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, said Schroyer would continue the administration's "historic efforts to secure our homeland," CBS News reported.
A Decade Without Permanent Leadership at ICE
The last Senate-confirmed ICE director, Sarah Saldaña, resigned on January 20, 2017. Since then, every person running the agency has been an "acting" director with no Senate confirmation. Nominees like Ron Vitiello and Mark Morgan were either pulled or never officially confirmed, leaving the agency without a clear line of oversight for nine years, according to Al Jazeera.
The most recent acting director, Todd Lyons, oversaw 570,000 deportations between March 2025 and May 2026, CBS News reported. He resigned in April, citing a move to the private sector. David Venturella, a former executive at private prison firm GEO Group, then stepped in as interim director on June 1.
Record Funding and Rising Controversy Behind the Nomination
The nomination lands just weeks after Trump signed the Secure America Act, a $70 billion immigration enforcement bill passed on June 10, according to TIME. Of that, $38 billion goes directly to interior enforcement — nearly four times ICE's previous annual budget. The agency has also hired 12,000 new employees in the past year alone, PBS reported.
The surge in operations has not come without cost. In January 2026, two people — Renee Nicole Good and VA nurse Alex Pretti — were fatally shot by federal agents during enforcement operations in Minneapolis, The Guardian and ProPublica reported. Minnesota officials sued DHS for lack of transparency, and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty called the federal refusal to cooperate "unprecedented."
Critics Fear Racial Profiling; Confirmation Fight Looms
Advocacy groups like Detention Watch Network warn that expanding the 287(g) program under Schroyer will lead to racial profiling by local police departments, Democracy Now! reported. Analysts also note that Schroyer has no experience running a 20,000-person federal agency — his entire career has been at the state level, according to Al Jazeera.
Shares in private prison operators GEO Group and CoreCivic rose after the announcement, as investors bet on higher detention volumes, according to TipRanks. Democrats are expected to challenge Schroyer in confirmation hearings over the Minneapolis shootings and civil liberties concerns. Still, some legal experts say any confirmed director is better than the revolving door of acting chiefs that has defined ICE for nearly a decade.
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