Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons submitted a resignation letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Thursday and plans to step down from the agency at the end of May, according to reports.
In his resignation letter, Lyons said he intends to spend more time with his family and sons as they reach “a pivotal point in their lives” — and added that it’s been a privilege to serve under President Trump, according to a copy reviewed by The New York Times.
“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,” he wrote.
“This was not an easy decision, but I believe it is the right one for me and my family at this time.”
Mullin said Lyons was “a great leader of ICE” and wished him luck in the private sector upon his resignation.
Lyons will stay on until May 31 to help with the transition process, according to reports.
“Director Lyons has been a great leader of ICE and key player in helping the Trump administration remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members from American communities,” Mullin said in a statement.
“He jumpstarted an agency that had not been allowed to do its job for four years. Thanks to his leadership, American communities are safer.”
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White House press secretary Abigail Jackson echoed the DHS head, calling Lyons “an American patriot who made our country safer,” in a post on X.
“The American people are deeply appreciative for his service,” Jackson wrote.
Lyons, who joined ICE in 2007 as an immigration enforcement agent in Texas, worked his way up the ranks to become the executive director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations — before being tapped to lead the agency for the Trump administration.
He also served the US Air Force in South Korea, Southeast Asia and Europe between 1993 and 1999. He was deployed overseas again after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to his biography on ICE’s website.
In a tense exchange with disgraced ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell during the House’s Homeland Security Committee hearings in February, Lyons refused to resign from the agency when grilled over whether he stood by ICE operations that resulted in the detainment of children and the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.
Congress granted the agency a massive infusion of cash under Lyons’s leadership, which it used to expand its hiring and detention capabilities.
He has overseen roughly 584,000 ICE deportations since President Trump was inaugurated last year for his second term, Fox News reported.
The Post has reached out to DHS for further comment.
With Post wires
