Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons Resigns as the Agency Runs a Record Deportation Campaign

On April 16, 2026, Todd Lyons submitted his resignation as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with his departure set for the end of May. Lyons had led the agency through the administration's mass-deportation expansion, including record removal-flight volumes and third-country transfers reported in April 2026. He said he wanted to spend more time with his family. He had testified before House committees on the agency's budget earlier in the year and had publicly refused calls from Democratic members to resign.

ICE had not had a Senate-confirmed director for the duration of the second Trump administration, cycling through acting leadership while the agency carried out its largest enforcement operation in decades and absorbed a major funding expansion. Turnover at the top of an agency operating at that scale without confirmed leadership raises accountability questions, because acting officials are not subject to Senate vetting.

Lyons announced his resignation on April 16, 2026, effective at the end of May. No permanent nominee had been named as of the end of April.