Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said on Thursday that he would resign at the end of May, shaking up the leadership at the agency responsible for carrying out President Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
In a letter to Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, Mr. Lyons said that it had been a “tremendous honor” to lead the agency, but that he had decided to leave to “spend more time with my family.”
“My sons are both reaching a pivotal point in their lives, and my wife and I wish to spend as much time as possible with them,” Mr. Lyons said in the letter, which was reviewed by The New York Times. “This was not an easy decision, but I believe it is the right one for me and my family at this time.”
CBS News earlier reported Mr. Lyons’s plan to resign this spring.
His exit raises more questions about the direction of ICE, which has faced dimming public opinion over its aggressive tactics. Recent polling shows that most Americans believe the agency has gone too far under the Trump administration. The fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota earlier this year, in particular, drew widespread outrage and calls for reforms.
The planned departure of Mr. Lyons also comes less than a month after Mr. Mullin was sworn in to lead the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE. Mr. Mullin, a former senator representing Oklahoma, was nominated after a string of controversies led Mr. Trump to fire Kristi Noem as secretary.
Mr. Mullin’s arrival has focused attention on how the department will reset its image while also delivering on the president’s pledge to continue cracking down on illegal immigration.
Mr. Lyons, who joined ICE in 2007 as an agent in Dallas, has defended the agency’s work under Mr. Trump. But he has also spoken recently about a surge in threats against ICE officers, saying that he knew the reality firsthand, and that his own family had been targeted.
After being hired at ICE, Mr. Lyons worked his way up to become the executive associate director of the agency’s enforcement and removal arm, before he was tapped to lead the agency.
Stephen Miller, an influential adviser to Mr. Trump and the architect of his deportation agenda, said in a statement on Thursday that Mr. Lyons was 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.”
Tyler Pager contributed reporting.
Madeleine Ngo covers immigration and economic policy for The Times.
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