Top Ice Official Leaving Trump Administration

A career federal law enforcement official who oversaw President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign is leaving government service.

Acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons will step down from his role at the end of May, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced Thursday.

Lyons, who supervised agents who swept through U.S. cities and conducted mass arrests of noncitizens, plans to take a position in the private sector.

“Director Lyons has been a great leader of ICE and a key player in helping the Trump administration remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members from American communities,” Mullin said in a statement. “Thanks to his leadership, American communities are safer.”

Mullin’s year-long tenure was punctuated by clashes between ICE agents and protesters in several cities, including in Minneapolis where immigration officials killed two unarmed U.S. citizens during enforcement operations. Outrage over their deaths prompted the administration to dial back operations.

His decision to step away from government comes weeks after POLITICO reported on his health struggles. Lyons had been hospitalized at least twice for stress-related issues during his year-long tenure overseeing ICE, inflicting a strain that has caused him to struggle to make key decisions for the agency, current and former administration officials told POLITICO.

Lyons joined ICE in 2007 after two stints in the military, including a deployment overseas with the Special Operations Command Central. He served as head of its Boston field office and acting assistant director for field operations before being tapped by former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to oversee the agency.

Lyons was praised by White House officials who oversaw Trump’s immigration agenda on the announcement of his departure. White House border czar Tom Homan said in a statement Lyons “served selflessly” to “protect our country and advance its interests.”

Lyons is “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,” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said in a statement.