Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons resigns without Senate confirmation

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons announced his resignation on April 16, 2026, effective May 31, saying he would take a private-sector job. Lyons had led ICE through the largest enforcement expansion in the agency's history — overseeing aggressive arrest operations, expanded detention, and the push toward 3,000 arrests per day — without ever facing a Senate confirmation hearing, as he was appointed in an acting capacity. ICE has been without a Senate-confirmed director since the Obama administration, allowing successive presidents to install enforcement chiefs without congressional vetting.