The acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has been at the center of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, will leave the federal government at the end of May, the administration said on Thursday.
Todd Lyons will step down on May 31 and transition to the private sector, according to a statement from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
ICE, which operates under DHS, has faced criticism during Trump’s renewed immigration enforcement push, with allegations of free speech violations and denial of due process rights.
The agency has also come under scrutiny following fatal shootings in Minnesota involving federal immigration officers, including the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good earlier this year, which sparked widespread protests.
Human rights advocates say the incidents have contributed to concerns about public safety and accountability in enforcement operations, particularly in minority communities.
Trump says the crackdown is necessary to improve domestic security and curb illegal immigration.
Earlier on Thursday, prosecutors in Minnesota charged an ICE agent with assault for allegedly pointing his gun at people in a car along a highway in Minneapolis in February.
Prosecutors said those marked the first charges against an ICE officer over actions related to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year. The accused agent told state investigators that he had “feared for his safety.”
Before being appointed acting chief of ICE in March 2025, Lyons was the executive associate director of the agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations directorate. In that role, he led efforts to arrest and remove migrants who came to the U.S. illegally, according to his official biography.
Lyons held other roles at the Enforcement and Removal Operations directorate, including assistant director of field operations and deputy assistant director of western operations and the southwest border, among other positions. He started with the directorate as an immigration enforcement agent in Dallas.
Mullin called Lyons “a great leader.”
