ICE Still Has No Confirmed Director: What That Means for Your Case

At Campos Law Firm, we closely monitor developments in U.S. immigration policy to protect our clients’ rights and future. On September 17, 2026, the White House withdrew Lance Schroyer’s nomination to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

When news like this reaches your phone, the first instinct is to wonder whether anything changes in your own case. Here is what is known, what is not, and what you can do.

What happened to the nomination?

President Donald Trump nominated Schroyer in June 2026. He is a former Oklahoma state trooper with roughly 29 years in law enforcement and prior Marine Corps service, and he was serving as a senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

The nomination stalled in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where lawmakers from both parties questioned his qualifications for the job. The White House gave no reason for pulling it.

Two details are worth getting right, because they circulate blended together. The Senate last confirmed an ICE director in December 2014, when it confirmed Sarah Saldaña. She left the post in January 2017, and the agency has had no confirmed director since: nearly nine years of acting chiefs.

Who runs ICE in the meantime?

David Venturella holds the job in an acting capacity. An acting director exercises the powers of the office, but without Senate confirmation behind him and, in practice, with less room to set a long-term course.

That explains something many families notice without knowing why: ICE priorities shift through internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memos more than through the arrival of a director. What governs an operation or a detention decision is usually an administrative directive, not a confirmed chief’s signature.

Does ICE decide your case?

This is the most widespread confusion, and it is worth taking apart, because it changes who you address and what you expect.

• ICE enforces immigration law inside the country: it arrests, detains, supervises people who have been released, and carries out removal orders. Its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arm is the one you see in raids.
• USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) is a different agency: it receives and decides your applications, such as affirmative asylum, permanent residence, or citizenship.
• CBP (Customs and Border Protection) operates at the border and at ports of entry, and it sets your status when it admits you.
• The immigration court is not part of ICE. It sits under the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), within the Department of Justice. A removal order is issued by an immigration judge, not by an officer or an agency director.

Put differently: ICE is one party in your case, not the referee.

What changes for you?

On its own, this news changes no rule about detention, bond, or removal. It does not cancel a prior order, it does not shift deadlines, and it does not alter the standard applied to your application.

What it does provide is useful context: in an agency run by acting officials, priorities can move from one quarter to the next. Against that, the only thing you control is your own file.

• Keep your address current: with the immigration court and with USCIS, within the deadline for each filing. A notice that never reaches you can become an in absentia order.
• Keep your check-ins: if you are under ICE supervision, do not miss an appointment, and keep proof of every report.
• Keep your documents ready: work permit, USCIS receipts, and your most recent court notice, with copies in the hands of someone you trust.
• Verify before believing a rumor: real changes are published in the Federal Register or in official notices, not in forwarded messages.
• Get advice before signing: never accept voluntary departure or sign documents you do not understand.

Protect Your Immigration Status with Campos Law Firm

Headlines about who leads an agency come and go. What decides a case is something else: what was filed, when, with what evidence, and whether the deadlines were met. At Campos Law Firm, we work on exactly that, because it is the part that is in your hands and your attorney’s. We do not make unrealistic promises. We provide serious legal representation backed by preparation and integrity.

Do not leave your immigration status to chance. Call us today at +1 (844) 922-6767 to schedule a free, confidential consultation in English or Spanish. Campos Law Firm: Legal Solutions in All Areas of Law.