Trump says he’ll nominate former Oklahoma state trooper Lance Schroyer as ICE director
By Casey Gannon, Julia Benbrook, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he will nominate former Oklahoma state trooper Lance Schroyer as director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, putting a little-known candidate in line to lead an agency that has spurred controversy amid the administration’s ramped-up deportation efforts.
Schroyer currently serves as a senior adviser to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, “overseeing the strategic coordination of immigration enforcement and serving as the liaison among local, regional, and federal law enforcement agencies,” the agency said in a press release.
A former Marine, he previously served as a major in the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety’s Emergency Services Unit, where he directed specialized units tasked with operations including disaster response, civil disturbance and immigration enforcement, DHS said in its release.
“Lance has firsthand experience getting Illegal Aliens OFF our streets and, just like ME and our Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, he LOVES the men and women of ICE,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Trump, who called Schroyer a “proven leader” with over 29 years of law enforcement experience, urged the Senate to immediately confirm him as ICE director. The agency has been without a Senate-confirmed leader since the Obama administration.
ICE, which is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security, has played a key role in Trump’s effort to crack down on illegal immigration, spurring protests in some cities where those actions have led to shootings and other violence.
Mullin, who represented Oklahoma in the Senate, told CNN in a statement that Schroyer is a “great pick.” He added he is “confident Lance’s strong leadership and firsthand experience will empower the men and women of ICE to deport criminal illegal aliens, secure the homeland, and protect the American people.”
Mullin said Schroyer is “coming straight from the operational field,” where he worked alongside state and federal partners under the 287(g) program. The program, among other things, allows ICE to authorize state and local law enforcement officers to perform specific immigration enforcement duties under the federal agency’s supervision.
Longtime immigration official David Venturella is serving as the current acting ICE director, after the previous acting director, Todd Lyons, stepped down this spring.
“It has been 11 years since the Department of Homeland Security has had a Senate confirmed ICE Director,” Mullin said in his statement. “The Senate must quickly confirm Lance Schroyer.”
Trump’s nomination announcement comes after a chaotic year for ICE and DHS.
Lyons, a veteran of the federal agency who was tasked with overseeing the Trump administration’s mass deportation plan, faced immense scrutiny as the agency ramped up arrests last year and on the heels of the fatal shootings of two US citizens by federal agents in January.
Mullin, who took the reigns at DHS in March after Trump fired the agency’s former secretary, Kristi Noem, has begun to make some policy changes but faces pressure from lawmakers, including Republicans, to go further in seeking to right the embattled department.
Mullin has long been a staunch supporter of Trump’s immigration crackdown. But during his confirmation hearing, he said there should be some changes as to how ICE is deployed around the country, telling senators, “I would love to see ICE become more a transport than on the front line.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
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CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.
