Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics White House withdraws nomination of Lance Schroyer to lead ICE President Trump's nominee to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was former Oklahoma state trooper Lance Schroyer. Three months after tapping him for the job, his name is being withdrawn. Politics White House withdraws nomination of Lance Schroyer to lead ICE September 18, 20266:44 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition Sergio Martínez-Beltrán White House withdraws nomination of Lance Schroyer to lead ICE Listen · 1:20 1:20 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5973272/nx-s1-9931431" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript President Trump's nominee to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was former Oklahoma state trooper Lance Schroyer. Three months after tapping him for the job, his name is being withdrawn. Sponsor Message Transcript
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The White House has withdrawn its nominee to lead the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement less than three months after President Trump picked him. Here's NPR's Sergio Martínez-Beltrán.
SERGIO MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN, BYLINE: Lance Schroyer's nomination came at a moment of change. He was a close ally of the new Homeland Security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, but Schroyer had no experience in immigration enforcement. That's something critics brought up often. He does have a law enforcement background. Most recently, he served as a major at the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
It's unclear why the Trump administration is withdrawing his nomination. The White House did not respond to NPR's request for comment. Trump has described Schroyer as a, quote, "patriot" and says he has decades of experience locking up the worst of the worst. The last time the Senate confirmed a director for ICE was during the Obama administration.
This is the latest setback at the Department of Homeland Security, which has shed some of its top leadership this year. Secretary Mullin has tried to distance himself from controversies preceding him, like the aggressive, sometimes deadly immigration enforcement operations in Chicago and Minneapolis. Under his watch, ICE arrests have reached a record monthly high, in part because of partnerships with local law enforcement.
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, NPR News, Austin, Texas.
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