Todd Lyons, who served as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has landed a senior vice president role focused on homeland security and international affairs at a private consulting firm, according to NPR Illinois.

Lyons departed ICE leadership on May 31, ending a tenure that began in March 2025 when President Donald Trump appointed him to the role. He succeeded Caleb Vitello as acting director, NBC News reported.

The new position puts Lyons on the consulting side of the national security and defense sector, where former senior DHS and law enforcement officials routinely leverage agency experience into advisory and business development roles. His title — senior vice president for U.S. homeland security and international affairs — maps squarely onto the firm's likely client base in government contracting and policy advisory work.

Lyons's time atop ICE covered one of the most operationally intense periods in the agency's recent history. The Trump administration's immigration enforcement posture drove high arrest volumes and expanded detention operations, placing the acting director at the center of interagency coordination, congressional oversight hearings, and near-constant litigation. Navigating that environment at the SES-equivalent level of an acting director carries weight in the private market — particularly with contractors and consultancies that service DHS and the broader national security apparatus.

The revolving door between senior DHS posts and the consulting and contracting sector is well-documented. Former ICE directors and acting directors have consistently moved into advisory, lobbying, or executive roles with firms that hold or pursue federal contracts. Lyons's move follows that pattern. The specific firm was not immediately identified in available reporting, though his title signals a practice area rather than a generalist slot.

No successor has been publicly named as of June 16, 2026. The acting director vacancy at ICE — an agency with roughly 20,000 employees and a central role in the administration's enforcement agenda — is a gap that DHS leadership will face pressure to fill quickly given ongoing congressional and operational demands.