Security guards stand in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters during a Congressional Hispanic Caucus rally on February 3, 2026 in Washington, DC (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has named a former Oklahoma state trooper to head U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency tasked with carrying out the president’s mass deportation campaign.
Richard “Lance” Schroyer’s nomination on June 27th is imminent on the heels of a US Supreme Court decision This allowed the Trump administration to revoke the legal status of 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians, opening them up for deportation.
“Lance Schroyer has what it takes to arrest and deport illegal alien criminals…” Trump said wrote on social media on June 27th. “…he LOVES the men and women of ICE.”
He must be confirmed by the Senate, and if so, he would be the first Senate-confirmed ICE director in 11 years.
The current acting director of ICE is David Venturella, a longtime federal immigration agent and former vice president of the private prison company GEO, which makes billions through federal contracts to detain immigrants in its facilities across the United States.
Former acting ICE Director Todd Lyons resigned in May following the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens by immigration officers in Minneapolis earlier this year.
$70 billion in modern funding
Schroyer will recently join a congressional agency funded until the 2029 financial year to $70 billion, without a separate billion-dollar funding stream that Republicans included in the 2025 tax cut and spending bill signed by the president.
Schroyer doesn’t have much experience working for the Department of Homeland Security, but serves as an adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who was previously a U.S. senator from Oklahoma.
Schroyer also worked to build Oklahoma’s law enforcement partnership with the federal government to support immigration enforcement under the 287g program. He worked in law enforcement for nearly 30 years.
Mullin mentioned Schroyer’s work with the 287g program.
“Lance comes directly from operations, where he led large-scale operations and worked with state and federal partners to remove illegal immigrants from Oklahoma through the 287g program,” Mullin said in a statement. “With over 29 years of law enforcement experience, Lance will play a critical role in fulfilling the President’s mandate to the American people to target, arrest and deport illegal aliens.”
Oklahoma Praise
Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt also praised the announcement and Schroyer’s career in law enforcement.
“He has been a great asset to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and now he will continue to make us proud at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Stitt said in a statement. “Oklahoma is once again leading the nation. We have consistently supported President Trump’s work to secure our border and have played a leading role in enforcement actions against those who are here illegally and engage in criminal behavior.”
Schroyer also received the Chief’s Award for his work in 2015 when he helped a woman whose car crashed outside his district in Tulsa Police Department jurisdiction.
“He found her face down with her head trapped between the end of the dashboard and the passenger door. The woman was choking and unable to speak.” according to a press release from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
According to the press release, Schroyer called first responders and stayed with the woman. “To allow her to breathe, he moved the car seats and kicked open a jammed door to reposition the woman and allow her to breathe,” the release said.
For his work, he received the Chief’s Award, “which recognizes his commitment to protecting life and serving the public.”
Oklahoma Voice editor Janelle Stecklein contributed to this report.
