After an occasionally rocky start in his new post, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin won an internal debate when President Donald Trump announced he was nominating Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement, five sources familiar with the dynamic told CNN.
The federal agency, which falls under DHS, is charged with carrying out Trump’s pledge of mass deportations; if confirmed, Schroyer would lead that task as the administration tries to deliver unprecedented results. He’d be charged with increasing immigration arrests and ramping up detention space, even as the administration had to sell or find ways to repurpose some warehouses that received bipartisan pushback.
All three ICE directors in the second Trump administration have served in an acting capacity. One of Mullin’s first tasks after assuming the role of secretary in March was selecting a leader for the agency after then-Acting Director Todd Lyons announced his departure.
Mullin originally proposed a different candidate, Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado, which caused friction with some White House officials, who did not think he was the correct fit, the sources said. (Regalado said publicly he took himself out of consideration.)
