White House Pulls Lance Schroyer’s Nomination to Lead ICE
The White House has withdrawn President Donald Trump’s nomination of Richard “Lance” Schroyer to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement, prolonging the agency’s reliance on acting leadership as it carries out a central component of the administration’s border-security agenda.
A formal notice delivered to the Senate on Thursday confirmed that Schroyer’s nomination as assistant secretary of homeland security had been pulled. The notice offered no explanation for the decision.
Trump nominated Schroyer in June and urged senators to move quickly on his confirmation. A former Oklahoma Highway Patrol major and United States Marine, Schroyer had been serving as a senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
Mullin, a fellow Oklahoman, championed the nomination and praised the president for making what he described as “a great pick.”
Before entering the Trump administration, Schroyer helped oversee an Oklahoma initiative that prepared more than 700 state troopers to work with federal authorities on immigration enforcement.
He also completed a 40-hour online course and received authorization through ICE’s 287(g) program to perform certain immigration-enforcement duties in cooperation with federal agents.
His supporters viewed that record as evidence of practical law-enforcement experience and a commitment to stronger federal-state cooperation. Critics, however, questioned whether his background adequately prepared him to manage a nationwide agency responsible for enforcing federal immigration law.
Reuters reported that Schroyer’s nomination caught some administration officials by surprise because he had never worked directly for ICE or managed a major law-enforcement organization.
The nomination remained stalled in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Republican Chairman Rand Paul had not scheduled a confirmation hearing, citing outstanding questions unrelated to Schroyer personally.
“I had asked them to give me an update on the internal investigation into civilian deaths,” Paul said before adding that the requested information still had not arrived.
Paul told the Associated Press that he had planned to hold a hearing on the nomination. He reportedly learned of the White House’s decision only after the withdrawal became public Thursday.
Schroyer’s removal from consideration leaves ICE under acting leadership at a consequential moment for Trump’s second-term immigration crackdown. The agency has now gone more than nine years without a Senate-confirmed director.
Sarah Saldaña, who left office in January 2017 before Trump’s first inauguration, was the last ICE director successfully confirmed by the Senate.
David Venturella currently serves as acting director after returning to federal immigration enforcement. His extensive career also included work for the private prison company GEO Group.
White House border czar Tom Homan has praised Venturella’s experience, arguing that ICE needs seasoned career officials who understand the agency from the inside and have personally carried out its mission.
The Washington Post reported that Mullin persuaded Trump to nominate Schroyer during a June White House visit. Trump later called Schroyer a “patriot with real operational experience” and said he would assist the administration’s campaign to locate and remove illegal immigrants.
Citing an anonymous source, the Post also claimed that senior DHS officials were caught off guard by the withdrawal. Neither the White House nor the department publicly confirmed that account.
The leadership change comes as ICE sharply increases arrests under President Trump. According to figures reported by the Associated Press, the agency recorded nearly 51,000 arrests in August alone.
That expansion has been accompanied by greater scrutiny of ICE recruitment, training standards and enforcement operations following fatal encounters involving federal immigration and border personnel.
Mullin assumed control of the Department of Homeland Security in March after leaving his Oklahoma Senate seat. He pledged to focus ICE resources on dangerous criminal offenders while keeping the agency out of politically damaging disputes that could distract from its enforcement mission.
Democrats have claimed that ICE’s years-long dependence on acting directors undermines congressional oversight, particularly as the agency expands its operations and attracts renewed national attention.
Sen. Gary Peters, the committee’s ranking Democrat, urged the president to nominate a replacement who could attract bipartisan support and provide Congress with additional information about ICE operations.
For the Trump administration, the immediate challenge will be finding a nominee capable of securing Senate confirmation without slowing the enforcement campaign voters elected the president to deliver. Until then, ICE’s mission will continue under officials already entrusted with implementing the administration’s border and deportation policies.