Gov. Noem Appoints New ICE Leaders to Restore Accountability and Deliver Results

The Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has appointed a new Director and Deputy Director to head U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She is working to restore a culture of accountability and results under the Trump administration.

Noem made the announcements on Sunday. Todd Lyons would serve as interim ICE Director, while Madison Sheahan would serve as deputy ICE Director.

Noem stated, “Our brave men and women of ICE have been prevented from performing their duties for the last four years. ICE is in desperate need of a culture of responsibility, which has not existed under the Biden Administration.” Noem said that Todd Lyons and Madison Sheahan were both strong leaders who would lead ICE’s men and women to accomplish the mandate of the American public to arrest, target, and deport all illegal aliens.

Homeland Security released a statement stating that Lyons is currently the executive associate director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations.

He served in a number of roles at ICE including as assistant director of ERO field operations, where he was responsible for all 25 offices across the U.S. Lyons was the ERO Field Office Director (FOD), Boston, from where he managed ERO operations in Massachusetts, Maine New Hampshire Rhode Island Connecticut and Vermont.

Lyons began his federal career as an Air Force member in 1993. In 1999, he moved into law enforcement for civilians in Florida. Lyons began his career in federal service in 1993 as a member of the U.S. Air Force. In 1999, he joined civilian law enforcement in Florida.

Sheahan and Noem worked together before, but most recently, the deputy director of ICE served as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, where she managed a budget of $280 million and over 800 employees in wildlife, enforcement, and fisheries divisions.

She was instrumental in establishing the Special Operations Group within the Enforcement Division, which prioritizes public safety by forming historic partnerships with local, federal, and state law enforcement when large events such as Mardi Gras or the Super Bowl are held in the Big Easy.

Sheahan also advised Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry in her role.

She worked as a staffer for the then South Dakota Governor. Noem held various leadership roles, such as the Republican Party of South Dakota and special initiatives to advance Noem’s agenda.

Noem was South Dakota’s Governor between January 2019 and January 2025. She then became the eighth chief of Homeland Security for the United States.

She is the fourth Trump Administration member to receive approval from the Senate. Her department has been given the top priority of securing border security and combating illegal migration by the Trump administration.

In order to protect the border, the administration has undertaken a variety of measures, such as deploying military forces, restarting the wall-building process, and terminating the parole program that was in place under Biden.