Todd Lyons, then acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), testifies during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on February 10, 2026.
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Todd Lyons, who led U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during some of its most volatile moments this year, has been hired by a defense contractor to help “on U.S. homeland defense strategy, interagency operations, and international security.”
Confirming the move, Navigators for Security and Defense told NPR that he does not engage in lobbying activities, and that Lyons cannot be associated with the Department of Homeland Security for a year due to federal laws.
It said Lyons is the company’s new senior vice president for US homeland security and international affairs.
Lyons did not respond to NPR’s multiple requests for comment.
Navigators Security & Defense is a subsidiary of Navigators Global, a lobbying firm with clients including General Motors, the New York Jets, and GEO Group, a private prison contractor that runs immigration detention centers across the country. Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, NJ
“Lyons brings more than three decades of law enforcement leadership and military expertise in support of Navigator security and defense customers,” the company said.
Navigators Global has represented NPR and the NPR Network in Congress since 2011.
Leading ICE in difficult times
Lyons served as Acting Director of ICE from March 2025 to May 2026.
During his tenure, ICE agents were tasked with carrying out some of the Trump administration’s most aggressive immigration enforcement operations, including major made-for-TV crackdowns. chicago And minneapolis.
Lyons faced intense pressure to meet the daily arrest quota of 3,000 individuals imposed by the White House. Despite the agency’s aggressive strategy to accomplish this – including Arresting immigrants inside immigration courts – The quota was never met.
Lyons stepped down last month.
he was replaced David Venturella, a veteran of ICE who most recently worked for GEO Group In several roles, including as Senior Vice President of Client Relations and, most recently, as a payments consultant.
GEO Group has seen a boom in business as it has developed closer ties with the Trump administration.
GEO Group created in 2025 Revenue $254 million – This is a 700% increase from 2024 A news release issued last month Celebrating GEO Group’s first quarter 2026 results, Chairman George Zolle said that 2025 was “the most successful period for new business wins in our company’s history.”
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