U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem holds a press conference at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Response Coordination Center in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 24, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
President Donald Trump's new appointee is raising alarm among staff inside the Department of Homeland Security and many are willing to quit over the appointment.
The Daily Beast reported on Monday that Trump has tapped an obscure state trooper from Oklahoma to run U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), citing a piece from PunchUp.
Senior officials say that they were shocked deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller was not appointed to the role.
Richard “Lance” Schroyer is a former highway patrol officer and Marine, his biography says. Officials inside of DHS think that the real puppetmaster of ICE has been Miller, and they thought he was the likely nominee along with border chief Tom Homan.
The Beast noted that the Senate hasn't confirmed a head of ICE since the Obama administration. However, they did approve DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
According to insiders, Schroyer's announcement sent shockwaves through DHS.
“He’s Markwayne’s guy,” one senior official told PunchUp.
“Everyone was blindsided by the selection [of Schroyer], including Homan and Miller,” one source said.
There is a concern that it could be a signal that Miller's power over immigration and deportations is being whittled away.
“He may be getting boxed out,” the source added.
That said, the Homan wing isn't doing well either.
It “seems Homan is losing some power,” another senior ICE official told PunchUp. He evidently wasn't "a fan" of Trump's idea to rebrand ICE as "NICE."
“Everyone loves it, but I have been told by the legendary Tom Homan that the Agents do not love it as much as the other population," Trump wrote on Truth Social on June 20.
“I think Homan is going to lose all power," another official said about the matter.
Schroyer will take over a massive agency with a significant budget, despite having no experience leading an agency or office of any kind.
Three insiders told PunchUp that the rank and file are ready to self-deport from their jobs.
“Troops not happy at all. Senior leaders not happy,” said one senior ICE source. “No experience. He was a trooper. But that’s it. Never a boss. Never a leader. Never had to manage a budget. Now he has $78 billion. Now he has 32,000 employees.”
Agents, the person said, are ready to walk.
“Many say they will retire,” the source said.
“You’re gonna see a lot of senior leaders” who “retire, leave,” they told PunchUp. “Because it’ll be a power struggle. A new person in there, no one will know what is going on, and we’re gonna look like idiots.”
They think Schroyer is "nice" but that he has “no experience really with 287g ops." He's already been working quietly as a senior advisor to Mullin. Schroyer also worked previously as Mullin's residential security detail.
"The pair were so close," the report said, citing a source, and noted that he was invited to have dinner with the family while working on the detail.
One agency veteran said that it's part of an ongoing pattern of appointing friends with no experience to jobs.
“This guy will be his ‘fish cop,’” the senior ICE official said when speaking to PunchUp.
The report recalled previous Secretary Kristi Noem's deputy director of ICE, 29-year-old loyalist Madison Sheahan. She eventually left ICE and ran for Congress but lost in the primary.
“Putting his person in with no experience just to have his guy on the inside. He’s going to be the new Noem," the official said.