The White House has withdrawn President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after a Republican senator joined Democrats in opposing his confirmation.
Richard Schroyer was serving as a senior aide to the secretary of Homeland Security when Trump picked him to lead the immigration enforcement agency in June.
The White House withdrew his nomination on Thursday in a short memo, which did not explain the decision. The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.
Republican Sen Rand Paul had stalled the nomination as he pressed for more information about ICE and Border Patrol shootings that killed two Americans in Minneapolis in January.
Schroyer had worked with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for 29 years, and also served in the US Marines. He is a close ally of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, whose department oversees ICE and other immigration and border agencies. His selection by Trump was seen as a surprise given his lack of experience overseeing such a large law enforcement agency.
The position is one of many that needs to be confirmed by the US Senate. Schroyer’s nomination did not manage to make it to a full Senate vote and had stalled in the Senate’s Homeland Security committee.
ICE has not been led by Senate-confirmed leader since 2017 and instead has had a host of temporary chiefs. It is currently led by David Venturella, a former private prison executive, after Todd Lyon announced his departure from the top job in April.
The withdrawal on Thursday marks a defeat for Trump and Mullin, as the White House continues Trump’s campaign pledge to lead the largest deportation effort in US history.
Paul, who serves as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said he would not advance the nomination to a full vote until the White House provided more information about the Minneapolis killings.
National protests took place earlier this year following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Both US citizens, the two were protesting when they were fatally shot in separate confrontations with ICE agents in January.
One of the promises that helped Trump take the White House in 2024 – cracking down on illegal immigration – has now divided voters going into the congressional midterm elections less than two months from now.
At the same time, Representative Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican from Florida, is warning that the crackdown could cause many of the Hispanic voters who supported him to turn their backs on the party when they go to the polls in November.
“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” she said in an advertisement filmed outside the White House that was released on Thursday. “Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy. The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”
By BBC News
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