Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons will depart the agency on May 31 to take a new role in the private sector, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed Thursday.
Lyons, who has worked at ICE for nearly two decades after first joining as an agent in 2007, called the position a "tremendous honor" in a letter to Mullin. He cited his desire to "spend more time with my family" as the reason for his departure, according to The New York Times.
The outgoing director oversaw a turbulent period at ICE during the Trump administration's controversial deployment of thousands of federal agents to states including California, Oregon, Minnesota, Maine and Illinois to crackdown on illegal immigration.
What the Right Is Saying
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin praised Lyons's leadership in his announcement of the departure, calling him a "great leader of ICE" who was a "key player in helping the Trump administration remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members from American communities."
"He jumpstarted an agency that had not been allowed to do its job for four years," Mullin wrote. "Thanks to his leadership, American communities are safer."
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called Lyons "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" in a statement shared with CBS News.
The Trump administration has framed its immigration enforcement crackdown as necessary for public safety, arguing that the operations targeted dangerous individuals in the country illegally.
What the Left Is Saying
Democratic lawmakers and officials criticized Lyons's tenure as acting director, with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) vowing to hold him "accountable" for the agency's actions.
In a post on X, Pritzker wrote: "Todd Lyons led a secret police force for Trump where masked agents attacked our own American streets, violated Constitutional rights, and shot our own citizens."
The governor's comments came in response to the Trump administration's deployment of ICE agents to Chicago. The operation was part of what the administration called the largest-ever immigration enforcement effort in Minnesota, where federal agents shot and killed two people in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) celebrated Lyons's departure on social media, writing: "Lyons, don't let the door hit you on your way out. You will still be held accountable by the American people."
During a congressional hearing in February, Lyons refused to apologize for the killing of 37-year-old mother Renee Good, who was fatally shot by ICE agents on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis. He cited an ongoing investigation into her death.
What the Numbers Show
The Senate has not confirmed a director for ICE since 2017, resulting in nearly a decade of acting leaders at the agency. Lyons becomes the latest in a series of interim directors.
ICE received $75 billion in funding under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last summer, according to the article.
The departure comes amid an ongoing partial shutdown at DHS that has stretched for over two months. While ICE received its funding, other agencies including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have been significantly impacted by the lapse in funding.
The Minnesota enforcement operation marked the largest immigration raid in the agency's history, drawing nationwide protests and congressional scrutiny.
The Bottom Line
Lyons's departure marks the first major leadership transition at ICE since Mullin took over as DHS secretary at the end of March, replacing Kristi Noem. Mullin will be responsible for selecting Lyons's replacement, though no potential successors have been publicly discussed.
The exit of the acting director does not resolve the underlying political controversy surrounding ICE's enforcement operations, which have drawn criticism from Democratic officials and legal challenges from several states. Questions remain about accountability for the deaths that occurred during federal immigration operations.
The agency will continue to operate without a confirmed Senate director, extending a pattern that has persisted for nearly ten years. What happens next with the DHS funding lapse and ICE's enforcement priorities under a new acting director will likely be the subject of continued partisan debate.