White House withdraws nomination of ex-state trooper Lance Schroyer to head ICE

The White House has withdrawn the nomination of Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement, less than three months after announcing his role.

Critics had initially criticized administration officials for nominating Schroyer, who has no formal experience working in ICE, to lead Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement agenda.

Schroyer previously worked as a member of homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin’s security detail when he was in the Senate. Since then, Schroyer has been serving as an adviser to Mullin.

White House officials did not give a reason for withdrawing Schroyer’s nomination in an announcement posted on the White House website on Thursday.

But Schroyer’s nomination stalled in the Senate because Rand Paul, the Republican chair of the homeland security and governmental affairs committee, had yet to schedule a hearing.

The Guardian has asked the White House for more information.

Trump initially announced Schroyer’s nomination in June, calling him “a PATRIOT with real operational experience, and proven leader with DECADES of experience locking up the worst of the worst”.

At the time, the president urged the Senate to confirm Schroyer immediately. But some Department of Homeland Security officials expressed skepticism about Schroyer’s qualifications. Unnamed DHS employees told Politico in August they didn’t want Schroyer to take over and implement changes.

ICE has not had an official director since 2017. The agency has been overseen by several acting directors, most recently David Venturella.

The agency, and its leaders, have faced intense scrutiny in Trump’s second term due to the rapid expansion of the agency to accommodate the president’s intense crackdown on immigrants in the United States.

ICE officers had been deployed to cities across the US to conduct sweeping arrests, often wearing face coverings and discreet clothing. Videos of officers forcefully grabbing individuals circulated online, provoking backlash from locals who accused the agency of instilling fear in communities. That scrutiny escalated sharply earlier this year, after federal agents fatally shot two 37-year-old US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during ICE operations in Minnesota and accused both of agitating law enforcement.

Then-acting ICE director Todd Lyons, who was already facing criticism for overseeing officers’ aggressive actions, was further condemned after refusing to apologize to the Pretti and Good families. In May, Lyons left his position leading ICE.

Nationwide outrage toward ICE forced the Trump administration to adjust its approach to detaining and deporting hundreds of thousands of immigrants, in part by diminishing the public-facing aspect of it.

As a result, Mullin and Tom Homan, the White House border czar who has taken a more hands-on role in immigration enforcement, have faced criticism from Trump allies for not doing enough to deport immigrations.

It is unclear whether the Trump administration plans to nominate another ICE director immediately or who that may be.