ICE chief nominee’s path to Senate confirmation ends abruptly

The White House Thursday withdrew the nomination of Richard “Lance” Schroyer to lead the agency the president tasked with carrying out his mass deportation campaign, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, had yet to have his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

The chair of the committee, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., had no objections to Schroyer’s nomination, his office said in an email to States Newsroom.

The White House did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment. The withdrawal was announced in a brief statement on the White House website along with those of several other nominees.

The Trump administration nominated Schroyer on June 27. He worked to establish Oklahoma’s law enforcement partnership with the federal government to assist with immigration enforcement in the 287g program, and is a close ally of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who previously served as Oklahoma’s U.S. senator.

Schroyer also worked in law enforcement for nearly 30 years.

The current acting director of ICE is David Venturella, a longtime federal immigration official and former vice president of the private prison company GEO that rakes in billions through federal contracts by detaining immigrants at its facilities across the country.

He took over in May after former acting ICE director Todd Lyons stepped down, following the shooting of two U.S. citizens by immigration officials in Minneapolis earlier this year.

The White House has not announced a replacement for Schroyer. The last time the Senate confirmed someone to lead ICE was 11 years ago.