ICE director stepping down

FILE PHOTO: Washington (May 10, 2019) Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske attends and speaks at the Federal Protective Service wreath laying ceremony at Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington. The ceremony was held in honor of six FPS officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. (DHS Photo by Tara Molle/Released)

(The Center Square) – The Department of Homeland Security will see another leadership change as Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will step down May 31.

Lyons submitted a resignation letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin Thursday, after serving nearly 20 years with the agency.

Mullin credited Lyons for his role in reenergizing the agency and leading to the deportations of criminal aliens, while overseeing over 22,000 employees and officers.

“Director Lyons has been a great leader of ICE and key player in helping the Trump administration remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members from American communities,” according to a statement from Mullin. “He jumpstarted an agency that had not been allowed to do its job for four years. Thanks to his leadership, American communities are safer.”

The secretary indicated that Lyons will be pursuing a new career in the private sector.

Lyons has been credited with overseeing the deportations of nearly 600,000 foreign nationals since President Donald Trump began his second term.

Lyons’ exit comes more than a month after former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was reassigned as the special envoy for the Shield of the Americas.

In January, Customs and Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino was removed from his role following fallout from the deaths of two anti-immigration enforcement protesters in Minneapolis. Bovino eventually retired from CBP at the end of March.

In his statement, Mullin didn’t provide the name of a possible replacement for Lyons.