Trump nominates first Senate-confirmable ICE director since 2017
President Trump on Saturday nominated Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper with 29 years in law enforcement and prior service as a U.S. Marine, to be director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Schroyer worked with immigration enforcement through Oklahoma’s 287(g) program, which deputizes state officers to carry out certain federal immigration actions under supervision.
If confirmed, he would be the first Senate-confirmed ICE director since 2017, when the term of Obama appointee Sarah Saldaña ended; the agency has run on a string of acting directors since. David Venturella has led ICE in an acting capacity since May 2026, after Todd Lyons departed in April.
The nomination installs permanent leadership at the agency at the center of the administration’s deportation drive — and subjects that leadership to Senate scrutiny. ICE has drawn sustained criticism in 2026 over deaths in custody and use-of-force incidents, and congressional Democrats had sought oversight conditions, including agent identification and limits on force, before agreeing to fund the agency in a party-line vote on June 9.