Trump picks Oklahoma officer Lance Schroyer to lead ICE deportation agency

Full text

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday tapped little-known Oklahoma law enforcement officer Lance Schroyer to serve as the next director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), elevating a relatively obscure figure to lead one of the administration’s highest-profile agencies as it ramps up its mass deportation campaign. Trump described Schroyer as “a PATRIOT with real operational experience” in a post on Truth Social, calling him a “proven leader with DECADES of experience locking up the worst of the worst.” The president highlighted Schroyer’s nearly 30 years in law enforcement, including his work as an Oklahoma state trooper, U.S. Marine and leader of partnerships between local law enforcement and ICE under the agency’s 287(g) program. Trump said Schroyer “has what it takes to DETAIN AND DEPORT Illegal Alien Criminals” and urged the Senate to “CONFIRM Lance, IMMEDIATELY.” The nomination comes as the Trump administration continues to make immigration enforcement the centerpiece of its second-term agenda. ICE has expanded workplace raids and interior enforcement operations while relying more heavily on state and local law enforcement agencies through 287(g) agreements. But the agency has moved away from the flashy, and controversial, enforcement tactics championed by former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over the last few months. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who was a senator from Oklahoma before joining the Cabinet, praised the nomination, saying Schroyer is “coming straight from the operational field” after leading large-scale enforcement efforts alongside state and federal partners in Oklahoma. He said Schroyer’s experience would help ICE “target, arrest, and deport illegal aliens.” Schroyer would replace acting ICE director David Venturella, who has led the agency since May 2026 upon the retirement of embattled ICE chief Todd Lyons. Venturella is a close ally of border czar Tom Homan, who did stints at ICE and as a major immigration detention contractor before joining the second Trump administration. Venturella will remain as acting director until Schroyer’s confirmation. If confirmed, Schroyer would become the first Senate-confirmed ICE director since Sarah Saldaña was confirmed in 2014, ending an 11-year stretch in which the agency has been run by acting leaders. “It has been 11 years since DHS has had a Senate confirmed ICE Director,” Mullin wrote Saturday. “The Senate must quickly confirm Lance Schroyer.”