WASHINGTON, April 16 (Reuters) – The acting head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which has been at the heart of \u200bPresident Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, will leave the federal government at the \u200cend of May, the Trump administration said on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Todd Lyons’ last day is May 31 and he will move to the private sector, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne \u200bMullin said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rights groups say Trump’s immigration crackdown led \u200bby ICE, which is part of DHS, has violated free \u2060speech and due process rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ICE’s fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens in \u200bMinnesota – Alex Pretti and Renee Good – in January sparked nationwide protests and human \u200brights experts said the agency’s actions have created an unsafe environment, particularly for minorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump says the crackdown is necessary to improve domestic security and curb illegal immigration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier on Thursday, prosecutors \u200bin Minnesota charged an ICE agent with assault for allegedly pointing his \u200bgun at people in a car along a highway in Minneapolis in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prosecutors said \u200cthose \u2060marked the first charges against an ICE officer over actions related to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year. The accused agent told state investigators that he had “feared for his safety.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before being appointed acting chief \u200bof ICE in March \u200b2025, Lyons was \u2060the executive associate director of the agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations directorate. In that role, he led efforts \u200bto arrest and remove migrants who came to the \u200bU.S. illegally, \u2060according to his official biography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lyons held other roles at the Enforcement and Removal Operations directorate, including assistant director of field operations and deputy assistant director of \u2060western \u200boperations and the southwest border, among other positions. \u200bHe started with the directorate as an immigration enforcement agent in Dallas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mullin called Lyons “a great \u200bleader.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n