Todd Lyons is stepping down as acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, departing the agency at the end of May after leading one of the most controversial chapters in its recent history. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced the move on Thursday, noting that Lyons will transition to the private sector. No successor has been named.
Lyons took the helm of ICE in March 2025 and presided over a sweeping expansion of the agency under the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement agenda. The agency reported hiring roughly 12,000 officers and agents in less than a year. Yet his tenure has been marked by escalating scrutiny over violent tactics, questionable arrest patterns, and detention center conditions that have drawn national attention.
The acting director defended his officers' decision to wear masks on operations despite safety concerns about agents being unidentifiable to the public. He also stood by agents involved in high-profile shootings, including a recent California incident and the January deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. When pressed by Congress after the Minneapolis killings, Lyons declined to apologize to the victims' families or challenge the administration's characterization of the slain individuals as "domestic terrorists."
A federal judge in Minnesota summoned Lyons to court in January, warning he could face contempt charges for allegedly defying orders related to unlawful arrests. The administration has faced a surge of lawsuits claiming immigration officers violated constitutional protections. Lyons ultimately avoided testimony.
Public opinion has turned sharply against ICE under Lyons' leadership. A February poll showed nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the agency has overstepped its authority. A March survey found half of Americans support abolishing ICE entirely. A Fox News poll reported six in 10 voters disapprove of the agency's performance.
Critics have also questioned the composition of ICE's arrest targets. While the agency promoted its record of apprehending "the worst of the worst," a Guardian analysis in February revealed that the vast majority of people entering deportation proceedings for the first time in 2025 had no criminal conviction on record.
Detention conditions have emerged as another flashpoint, particularly concerns surrounding the sprawling Dilley facility in Texas, which houses families and children.
Mullin's statement praised Lyons for what he called "jumpstarting an agency that had not been allowed to do its job for four years." Tom Homan, Trump's border czar, and Stephen Miller, the architect of the administration's immigration policies, both released statements of support on Thursday.
Lyons began his career with ICE as an agent in Texas in 2007, rising through the ranks before assuming the top role during one of the most contentious periods for federal immigration enforcement in recent memory.
Author James Rodriguez: "Lyons leaves behind an agency that expanded rapidly but lost the public trust just as fast, a cautionary tale about enforcement without accountability."
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