Trump nominates former Oklahoma state trooper Lance Schroyer as ICE director

President Donald Trump said Saturday he would nominate former Oklahoma state trooper and Marine Lance Schroyer as the next director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post in which he praised Schroyer for being a “PATRIOT with real operational experience” and a “proven leader with DECADES of experience locking up the worst of the worst.”

Schroyer, who has been in law enforcement for almost 30 years, will replace acting director David Venturella, a former executive at a private prison operator. Former ICE director Todd Lyons resigned in May for a role in the private sector.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin praised Trump’s nomination, saying Schroyer “is coming straight from the operational field where he ran large scale operations and worked alongside state and federal partners to remove illegal aliens from Oklahoma under the 287g program.”

A Department of Homeland Security statement said Schroyer currently serves as the Senior Advisor to Mullin, where he oversees “the strategic coordination of immigration enforcement and serving as the liaison among local, regional, and federal law enforcement agencies.” He previously served as a Major at the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety over the Emergency Services Unit, where he “directed the operational activity of at least eight discrete specialized units tasked with recovering abducted children, disaster response, civil disturbance, immigration enforcement, dignitary protection, and threat assessment and rapid response.”

Schoyer must be confirmed by the Senate. ICE has had 12 acting directors since the Senate last confirmed one in 2017 under former President Barack Obama.

Trump called on the Senate to confirm him immediately, as did Mullin.