President Donald Trump says he is nominating former Oklahoma state trooper Lance Schroyer to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement. If confirmed, Schroyer would take over an agency that has expanded rapidly and become a central instrument of Trump’s mass-de
By Saturday night, the nomination was already on the move—Trump naming a new face to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and ICE preparing for another high-stakes shift at the top.
President Donald Trump said he is nominating Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, as the next director of ICE. Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social platform, calling Schroyer a former U.S. Marine and a “PATRIOT with real operational experience.” He also described Schroyer as a “proven leader with DECADES of experience locking up the worst of the worst.”.
Schroyer’s nomination also lands close to home for the incoming leadership at the Department of Homeland Security. Schroyer hails from the same home state as DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, a former congressman. Earlier this month. Mullin brought Schroyer onstage at a National Sheriffs’ Association event. calling him a “good friend of mine” and noting that DHS had recently hired him.
On Saturday, Mullin quickly praised the nomination in a statement. Mullin highlighted Schroyer’s 29-year career and his work with federal and state partners on a U.S. immigration enforcement program. “President Trump made a great pick. and I’m confident Lance’s strong leadership and firsthand experience will empower the men and women of ICE to deport criminal illegal aliens. secure the homeland. and protect the American people. ” Mullin said.
If the Senate confirms Schroyer, he would take the helm of an agency that has grown dramatically and drawn intense public backlash. The pressure around ICE has intensified since Trump returned to the White House on a promise of mass deportations, with ICE acting as a central executor of that vision.
The scale of that enforcement push has surged. The agency has been undergoing massive growth from a one-time injection of $75 billion last year. which has allowed for the hiring of 12. 000 officers and increased detention capacity. The resulting raids sent tensions soaring, with federal immigration officers moving into American cities to round up immigrants. Those operations produced clashes between protesters and law enforcement, including the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Schroyer’s path to the ICE director role is also being watched for how it intersects with Mullin’s shifting tone on immigration. Mullin. who started as DHS secretary in March. has promised to keep his department out of the headlines and has indicated a softer tone on immigration. Still, he is expected to align with the president’s priorities on mass deportations.
Former ICE director Todd Lyons resigned at the end of May, opening the door for a change in leadership. David Venturella, a former executive at a private prison operator, has been serving as acting head of the agency. Venturella is expected to stay on as the acting director until Schroyer is Senate confirmed. according to a DHS official speaking on condition of anonymity.
The nomination comes with procedural weight, too. ICE has not had a Senate-confirmed director since the Obama administration. a result of polarizing politics around the agency and immigration policy. Claire Trickler-McNulty. a former senior ICE official. said that prior confirmed ICE directors have often been attorneys. though some state and local law enforcement officials have also been nominated. She suggested that Schroyer’s Oklahoma background points to Mullin’s influence over the pick.
“I think probably given the attention on ICE, he wants to feel like he has somebody he can trust in there,” Trickler-McNulty said in an interview.
John Torres, another senior ICE official, said Schroyer faces an uphill climb toward Senate confirmation. Torres argued that Schroyer’s experience being at the state and local level instead of the federal level might help. “He won’t have any of that baggage. where they’re going to turn around and say. oh. well. he worked for this administration or that. ” Torres said.
In Washington. the nomination is being framed as both a personnel decision and a political signal—an attempt to install a leader with “operational experience” at a time when ICE’s expanded footprint has become a flashpoint. and when Mullin has pledged a quieter departmental posture even as deportation priorities remain anchored to Trump’s agenda.
Donald Trump Lance Schroyer ICE director Immigration and Customs Enforcement Markwayne Mullin Department of Homeland Security Senate confirmation immigration enforcement Minneapolis shootings mass deportations
ICE again, shocker. Hope they don’t mess it up.
So he’s a former trooper… doesn’t that mean he’ll just treat everyone like criminals? I saw “worst of the worst” and it sounds like they’re gonna round up whoever they want. Also why is Truth Social the place to announce something like that?
Wait, I thought ICE was already under Homeland Security, so how’s this “lead agency shift” even a thing? Sounds like political theater more than actual deportations. And the article says “decades” like that automatically makes him qualified… troopers do traffic stuff, right? Idk.
The part about him being from the same state as Mullin is what gets me. Like okay friends, buddy system, next director. They keep saying “secure the homeland” but what about families? My cousin works in the sheriff office and they barely can handle what they already do. This is gonna blow up if he gets confirmed, mark my words.