Donald Trump withdrew his proposal to lead ICE

United States President Donald Trump withdrew on Thursday the nomination of Lance Schroyer to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an institution essential to enforcing the Trump administration’s policy of arresting and deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally.

The White House announced the withdrawal in a statement, without providing a reason or additional explanations. Schroyer’s nomination had to be approved by the Senate.

Trump announced at the end of June that he was nominating the former Oklahoma police officer for the post. Schroyer built his career in that state, which is also the home state of Markwayne Mullin, the secretary of Homeland Security appointed in March.

The position of ICE director has been vacant since May, after Todd Lyons left the post, which he had held on an interim basis. Although the director’s appointment must, in principle, be confirmed by the Senate, all the people who have held the position since 2017 have served in an interim capacity.

ICE has been criticized for methods considered brutal and accused by several judges of deliberately violating court rulings. The Department of Homeland Security announced that the agency arrested nearly 51,000 immigrants in August, after a record of more than 50,200 in July.