Trump says he is nominating former Oklahoma State Trooper Lance Schroer to be director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday he is nominating Lance Schroer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, as the next director of Immigration, Customs and Enforcement.

Trump said on his platform, Truth Social, that his new choice for the immigration enforcement agency is a former US Marine and “a patriot with real operational experience.” He described Schroyer as a “proven leader with decades of experience taking on the worst of the worst.”

Schroyer comes from the same state as the new Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullen, a former member of Congress. Earlier this month, Mullen brought Schroyer on stage at a National Association of Sheriffs event, calling him “a good friend of mine” and noting that the Department of Homeland Security had recently hired him.

On Saturday, Mullen quickly praised Schroer in a statement that highlighted the former soldier’s 29-year career and his work with federal and international partners in the U.S. immigration enforcement program.

“President Trump has made a remarkable choice, and I am confident that Lance’s strong leadership and first-hand experience will enable the men and women of ICE to deport criminal illegal aliens, secure the homeland, and protect the American people,” Mullen said.

If confirmed, Schroer will head ICE at a time when the public mood is souring over Trump’s anti-immigration crackdown, which has sent federal immigration officers to US cities to arrest immigrants. Those raids escalated tensions and sparked clashes between protesters and law enforcement, leading to the shooting deaths of two American citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year.

Trump returned to the White House on the promise of mass deportation, and ICE has been the main enforcer of that vision. The agency is experiencing explosive growth after a one-time injection of $75 billion last year, allowing the hiring of 12,000 officers and increased detention capacity.

Mullen, who began office in March, has promised to keep his administration out of the headlines and has signaled a softer tone on immigration, though he is expected to align with the president’s priorities on mass deportations.

Read more: DHS officials say acting ICE director will resign at the end of May

Previously confirmed ICE directors were mostly lawyers, though some state and local law enforcement officials were nominated, said Claire Trickler-McNulty, a former senior ICE official. She said his background at Oklahoma suggests Mullen likely had an influence on the selection.

“I think given the attention ICE has gotten, he wants to feel like he has someone he can trust there,” she said in an interview.

John Torres, another senior ICE official, said Schroer faces an uphill task toward Senate confirmation, but his experience at the state and local level rather than the federal level may help.

“He’s not going to have any of that baggage, where they’re going to turn around and say, ‘Well, he worked for this or that administration,'” Torres said.

Schroer’s nomination follows the resignation of former ICE Director Todd Lyons at the end of May. David Venturella, a former private prison executive, serves as acting head of the agency. Venturella is expected to remain in his position as acting director until Schroer is confirmed by the Senate, according to a Department of Homeland Security official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

ICE has not had a Senate-confirmed director since the Obama administration, a result of polarizing politics around the agency and immigration policy.

Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat and Rebecca Santana contributed to this report.