The acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Todd Lyons, has reportedly resigned.
According to Fox News, Lyons submitted his resignation to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, with his last day set for May 31.
Lyons’ departure will mark the end of a turbulent tenure at the helm of an agency central to President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation crackdown.
The two-decade ICE veteran and Air Force veteran informed colleagues he plans to leave government service to spend more time with his family in Massachusetts and later join the private sector.
His resignation, first reported by Fox News and confirmed by CBS News, comes after more than a year leading ICE through one of its most controversial enforcement periods.
Career in Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Lyons joined ICE in 2007 as an agent in Dallas, eventually rising to deputy head of the Dallas field office. He later became the field office director in Boston, overseeing operations across New England.
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At ICE headquarters, he served as assistant director for field operations within Enforcement and Removal Operations before being named acting director in March 2025.
An Air Force veteran deployed overseas, Lyons was widely respected among career ICE officials. He publicly embraced Trump’s deportation agenda but at times pushed internally for operations to prioritize individuals with criminal histories, a longstanding ICE focus.
Under his leadership, ICE mounted a massive recruitment drive, hiring thousands of deportation agents with $75 billion in funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Lyons also signed a controversial May 2025 memo authorizing ICE agents to forcibly enter homes without judicial warrants during certain operations, a marked departure from longstanding policy.
According to Fox News‘ Bill Melugin, the outgoing official oversaw roughly 584,000 ICE deportations since President Trump’s inauguration and plans to enter the private sector and spend more time with his family.
Trump allies praise Lyons
Secretary Mullin confirmed Lyons’ resignation in a statement Thursday, calling him “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 added, “He jump-started an agency that had not been allowed to do its job for four years. Thanks to his leadership, American communities are safer.”
On his part, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller described Lyons as “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.”
Fierce political battles marked Lyons’ tenure. In February, former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) confronted him during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, demanding his resignation and accusing ICE of abuses during mass deportation operations.
Swalwell charged that ICE had deported vulnerable individuals, including a child battling cancer, and accused Lyons of siding “with killers.”
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Lyons refused to resign, defending ICE’s actions and countering Swalwell’s claims. He argued that ICE officers had protected children abandoned by parents fleeing law enforcement and rejected accusations of targeting minors.
The acting ICE chief also clashed internally with former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who sought to elevate Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino to lead sweeping roundups in major U.S. cities.
Lyons opposed the move, favoring targeted operations against those with criminal records. After fatal shootings in Minneapolis sparked bipartisan backlash, Bovino was relieved of command and later retired.
Leadership challenges at ICE
Lyons’ resignation leaves ICE once again without a permanent, Senate-confirmed director. The agency has cycled through more than a dozen acting leaders since 2017, when the last confirmed director stepped down at the end of the Obama administration.
Finding a successor will be one of Secretary Mullin’s first major decisions since taking office last month. Mullin replaced Kristi Noem after Trump ousted her amid concerns about her leadership style and backlash to aggressive enforcement operations.
Lyons’ departure also comes at a time when immigration enforcement remains a flashpoint in U.S. politics, with Democrats pushing legislation to strip ICE agents of qualified immunity and Republicans defending the agency’s expanded powers.
