On April 16, it was announced that Todd Lyons, the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), will resign at the end of May, according to a statement from Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who was recently appointed after Kristi Noem’s exit. According to an April 17 NPR article written by Ximena Bustillo, just before the announcement, Lyons was arguing with a House subcommittee about the agency’s budget.
According to a Reuters article written by Kanishka Singh, Lyons was appointed in March of 2025 but was previously the executive associate director of the ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations directorate. Singh reported that Mullin described Lyons as “a great leader”, and NPR stated that Mullin also said Lyons “jumpstarted an agency that had not been allowed to do its job for four years.” As of April 17, no information about the successor of Lyons has been announced.
Lyons’ resignation comes at a time when Americans are increasingly disapproving of ICE’s actions. According to an NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll survey conducted in February, 65 percent of Americans think that ICE’s actions have gone too far, and six in ten “disapprove of the job ICE is doing.” After information came out about ICE’s treatment of detainees and officers’ involvement in the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the public’s perception of ICE has drastically deteriorated.
