Former ICE acting director joins defense contractor as senior vice president

Todd Lyons, who served as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from March 2025 to May 2026, has been hired by Navigators Security and Defense as senior vice president for U.S. homeland security and international affairs. The company stated that Lyons will assist clients on U.S. homeland defense strategy, interagency operations, and international security.

Navigators Security and Defense said it does not engage in lobbying activities.

Employment restrictions Federal law bars Lyons from engaging with the Department of Homeland Security for one year after leaving his government post, the company said. Navigators Security and Defense is a subsidiary of Navigators Global, a lobbying firm whose clients include General Motors, the New York Jets, and GEO Group.

Prior role at ICE Lyons led the agency during a period when agents conducted enforcement operations in Chicago and Minneapolis and worked under a daily arrest target set by the White House. The agency did not meet that target. He was replaced in May 2026 by another former ICE official who had also worked for GEO Group.

Navigators Global has represented NPR and the NPR Network before Congress since 2011. Lyons did not respond to requests for comment.