The president has picked Lance Schroyer to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Senate gets to confirm or reject him, and I want my senators to take that job seriously.
ICE is a federal agency of about 20,000 people with a budget near $9 billion. It runs deportations and it runs criminal investigations into trafficking and money laundering. Schroyer spent 29 years in Oklahoma state law enforcement and led tactical and emergency units. That is real experience, but it is not the same as running a federal agency, and he has no background on the investigations side. I want senators to ask him plainly how he would lead an agency this size when he has never worked inside the federal government.
His recent work is the bigger question. As a senior adviser at Homeland Security, Schroyer helped expand the 287(g) program, which deputizes local police to act as immigration agents. That program grew by about 600% in eight months and now covers more than 700 local agencies. The ACLU has documented its long record of racial profiling. I want senators to ask whether he will keep pushing the version that lets officers stop and question people during routine policing, and what guardrails he would put on it.
The last thing I want is for senators to ask about independence. An ICE director decides whether people get due process before they are deported. He should answer to the law, not just carry out orders. Ask him directly whether he will follow court rulings and protect due process even when the White House wants faster numbers.
I am not asking my senators to rubber-stamp this nominee or to reject him on sight. I am asking them to hold a real hearing, get answers on the record, and withhold their vote until Schroyer commits to due process and to enforcing the law fairly. A 20,000-person deportation agency is too important to confirm a leader without those answers.
