Todd Lyons’ career at US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) was on an upward trajectory from the time he joined the agency as an Immigration Enforcement Agent in Dallas in 2007 through March 9, 2025, when he was named Acting Director of the agency by President Trump.
Unfortunately (for him), his career ascent coincided with Stephen Miller, Corey Lewandowski, and Kristi Noem’s co-option of his agency.
Although President Trump promised to arrest “the worst of the worst” during the campaign, once in office, Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and (then) Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and her “Chief of Staff” Corey Lewandowski, demanded that ICE should instead generate arrests of 3,000 people a day, no matter if they had no criminal records (other than immigration violations) with controversial Border Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino named as “Commander at Large” of their enforcement efforts.
A series of well-publicized raids directed against “blue” (Democratic) cities followed, resulting in the controversial shooting deaths of ICE protestors Rene Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
As a result, immigration (which had once been one of President Trump’s strengths in national polls) quickly shifted to a liability.
ICE Director Lyons efforts to rein in Bovino resulted in an email from Bovino stating, "Mr. Lyons said he was in charge, and I corrected him, saying I report to Corey Lewandowski."
Miller’s 10 AM daily conference calls with ICE officials are famous for destroying morale among ICE leaders:
“Miller came in there and eviscerated everyone. ‘You guys aren’t doing a good job. You’re horrible leaders.’
“Stephen Miller wants everybody arrested. ‘Why aren’t you at Home Depot? Why aren’t you at 7-Eleven?’” Forbes News reported the official recited.
As a result, in March 2026, Politico reported that Lyons was hospitalized in late 2025/early 2026 due to stress, with sources attributing this to the aggressive demands from Miller.
Which brings us where we are today. ICE Director Lyons will resign on May 31, 2026. He says he wants to spend more time with his family, particularly his sons.
Senator Markwayne Mullin is now the Secretary of Homeland Security. Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski, and Gregory Bovino are gone (and soon, Todd Lyons will be as well). Stephen Miller remains in his position, free to continue to press his aggressive enforcement agenda.
However, The Wall Street Journal reported last month that President Trump wants to “lower the profile of his mass deportation effort.”
They said he wants voters to think the targets of these deportations are “bad guys,” not noncriminal undocumented residents. He wants less visibility for ICE raids in cities, fewer public confrontations with local officials, and less public talk about “mass deportations,” which, he now grasps, are hideously unpopular.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles now sees deportations as a liability for the midterms, per the report. If Trump sides with her on politics, it would be a sign of political panic and a rebuke to Miller, but we appear to be somewhere in between those two extremes at the moment.
However, this is decided, ICE Director Todd Lyons isn’t sticking around to see how it plays out.
Do you support Stephen Miller’s demands for 3,000 daily immigration arrests or Susie Wiles’ focus on migrants with previous criminal arrests?
Share your thoughts in the comments to this story!
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
That’s a tough question. I don’t have any answers … I do know we need our path to citizenship overhauled and made more efficient.
Thank you for your article! How is your hand/arm feeling? Much better I certainly hope!!