ICE Director Nomination Gets Pulled by White House. Here's What We Know.

It's going to be a bit longer before we have a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) head in place, according to reports on Thursday, as the White House had pulled the nomination of Lance Schroyer.

President Trump announced the Schroyer nomination in June, as RedState previously wrote.

His post read: [paragraph breaks added]

I am very pleased to announce that I have nominated Lance Schroyer to be our next ICE Director. Lance has over 29 YEARS of Law Enforcement experience in Oklahoma — A State where I WON all 77 Counties in 2016, 2020, and 2024! 

Lance is a former Oklahoma State Trooper, and United States Marine. He is a PATRIOT with real operational experience, and proven leader with DECADES of experience locking up the worst of the worst, including spearheading 287g Law Enforcement partnerships with ICE! 

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. 

Importantly, Lance Schroyer has what it takes to DETAIN AND DEPORT Illegal Alien Criminals, including murders, rapists, and drug traffickers at a rate never seen before! Remember, our Administration has the HIGHEST Daily Arrest Rate by ICE and CBP than ANY other President, by far. It’s not even close! 

The Senate must CONFIRM Lance, IMMEDIATELY — Do not delay. Together, we will MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN. Thank you for your attention to this matter! 

Later that same month, DHS gave Haitians the bad news on whether the end of TPS meant they could remain in the U.S, permanently.

Then in July, Department of Homeland Security Sec. Markwayne Mullin spoke about the upcoming midterms and election security.

Where do things stand today on the ICE role getting a hearing in the Senate? Rightly or wrongly, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has signaled his qualms about the nominee... and Mullin's tenure so far at DHS:

Schroyer was nominated by President Donald Trump in late June. The former Oklahoma police officer had been serving as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s adviser and security detail and is a longtime friend.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, previously said he would not vote to advance the nominee out of committee until the Trump administration provided more information about its investigation into the federal agents involved in the deadly shootings in Minneapolis earlier this year, according to Politico. Paul’s office said he did not voice opposition to the nominee.

According to prior coverage by The Washington Examiner, some officials told the publication they were not sold on the wisdom of putting forward Schroyer for the position — or Mullin's management of the department.

One official said it was a “mistake,” and pointed to his lack of managerial experience, proximity to Mullin, and inexperience leading a federal agency as reasons Schroyer may not be the best choice. Mullin had come into his lead role with no background in homeland security, immigration, or border policy.

Here's the thing, though: the U.S. has not had a confirmed director since Barack Obama was heading out of office (and in case anyone needs a refresher on when that was, it was January 2017).

It's something about which Mullin reminded people in his reaction to Schroyer's nom, writing, "It has been 11 years since @DHSgov has had a Senate confirmed @ICEgov Director. The Senate must quickly confirm Lance Schroyer." 

Here is a little more background on how we got here:

ICE has not had a Senate-confirmed director since Sarah Saldaña left the post on January 20, 2017. Since then, the agency has operated under acting leaders. David Venturella became acting director in 2026 after Todd Lyons departed. https://t.co/54p0mHt4PR

— james jackson (@jackgoesvirtual) September 17, 2026

As I pointed out above back in June, Venturella comes highly recommended; the former ICE senior advisor was recruited by Border czar Tom Homan to stand in the gap while the administration sought a new director.

Maybe his name will be placed at the top of the list for consideration as ICE director? We'll see.

Regardless, we did not need a permanent ICE director to get zero illegals sauntering across an open southern border or violent Central or South American gang members earning involuntary plane trips to African cities; we needed a new president. This is what I voted for.

Editor’s Note: ICE and CBP continue to put themselves in harm's way in order to protect America’s sovereignty and to keep our streets safe. 

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