ICE acting director Todd Lyons will resign at end of May, says Mullin

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd Lyons, a key executor of President Donald Trump's mass deportations agenda, will resign at the end of May, federal officials announced.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin described Lyons as a great leader of ICE who helped to make American communities safer.

“We wish him luck on his next opportunity in the private sector,” Mullin said in a statement. Lyons' last day will be May 31, according to Mullin.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson described Lyons in a post on X as “an American patriot who made our country safer.” It was not immediately clear why Lyons was resigning, nor who would be replacing him. Lyons, who joined ICE in 2007 as an immigration enforcement agent in Texas, led the agency at the centre of Trump's plans to reshape immigration to the US. Under his leadership, the agency was granted a massive infusion of cash through Congress, which it used to expand hiring and detention capabilities. ICE under Lyons also ramped up arrests to meet demand from the administration.