ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons to Resign Following Record Deportations and Controversy

Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced his resignation effective May 31, 2026, ending a tenure marked by record deportation figures and mounting controversy over the agency's conduct. Lyons informed colleagues of his plans to depart and addressed a formal resignation letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin. In the letter, Lyons cited personal reasons for his departure, stating that his children were reaching pivotal moments in their lives and that he and his wife wanted to spend as much time as possible with them. Mullin confirmed the resignation publicly and announced that Lyons would move to the private sector after leaving the agency. No replacement was announced alongside the departure.

Record arrests and deportations defined Lyons' tenure Lyons was appointed acting director by President Donald Trump in March 2025, after having worked at ICE since 2007, beginning his career as an investigator in Dallas. During a congressional hearing, he reported that the agency conducted and carried out more than . Under his leadership, ICE received a significant injection of funds, more than doubled its agent staff, and expanded the number of available beds in detention centers across the country. Mullin praised Lyons on the social media platform X, writing that he had been a decisive figure in removing what Mullin described as criminals from American communities and that he had revitalized an agency that had not been allowed to do its job for four years. „Director Lyons has been a great leader of ICE and a key figure in helping the Trump Administration remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members from American communities. He revitalized an agency that had not been allowed to do its job for four years. Thanks to his leadership, American communities are safer” — Markwayne Mullin via El País The White House also weighed in, describing Lyons as an American patriot who had made the country safer.

Fatal Minnesota shootings and protests shadowed the agency Lyons' time at the head of ICE was not without serious controversy. The fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, by ICE agents during protests in Minneapolis in January 2026 sparked nationwide demonstrations and intensified political debate over the administration's immigration policies. Human rights experts warned in recent months that ICE's actions had created an unsafe environment, particularly for minority communities. According to a report published in the scientific journal of the American Medical Association, the mortality rate in ICE detention centers stood at 88.9 per 100,000 detainees in January 2026, nearly double the previous year's figure and above the peak recorded during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. At least 31 people died in ICE facilities in 2025, described as the highest figure in two decades, and at least 17 more died in the months since. Critics also noted that official data showed the vast majority of those arrested under Lyons' leadership had no criminal record, despite his repeated assertions that agents had detained only the most dangerous individuals.

2025: 31, 2026 (partial): 17

Mullin takes over a department still in political turmoil Lyons' resignation comes as the Department of Homeland Security itself remains under pressure. Kristi Noem, who had served as Secretary of Homeland Security, was fired by Trump in early March 2026, and Mullin — a former U.S. senator from Oklahoma — was confirmed as her replacement, having been in office for only a few weeks at the time of Lyons' announcement. The department has faced additional scrutiny over the case of Marie-Therese Ross, an 86-year-old French citizen who had been held in an ICE deportation center in Louisiana since April 1, 2026. Ross was released and returned to France on April 17, 2026, following diplomatic pressure from the French government. „In view of her age, we really want her to get out of this situation as quickly as possible. We want to get her out of prison” — Rodolphe Sambou via Deutsche Welle France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot welcomed her release during a visit to Montpellier. According to RFI, no agreement on legislation to fund the agency has yet been reached, leaving the department in a state of institutional uncertainty as it searches for Lyons' successor.

ICE was established in 2003 as part of the broader reorganization of U.S. federal agencies following the September 11 attacks, when the Department of Homeland Security was created. The agency absorbed functions previously handled by the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the U.S. Customs Service. Throughout its history, ICE has been a focal point of debate over immigration enforcement, with its detention and deportation operations drawing both support from immigration restrictionists and sustained criticism from civil liberties organizations. The Trump administration's first term, beginning in 2017, also saw a significant expansion of ICE operations, setting a precedent for the more aggressive posture adopted in the second term beginning in January 2025.