Madison Sheahan, ICE’s No. 2 official and a Noem ally, leaving company to run for Congress

Madison Sheahan, the No. 2 official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and shut ally of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem, is leaving the company to run for Congress, two U.S. officers conversant in the transfer instructed CBS Information on Thursday.

Sheahan was put in as ICE’s deputy director in March, when the Trump administration overhauled the company’s management amid elevated strain for officers to ramp up immigration arrests and deportations throughout the nation.

In an announcement to CBS Information, Noem confirmed Sheahan’s departure. She mentioned Sheahan could be “an amazing defender of freedom when she goes to Congress,” noting she has identified her for years.

“Madison Sheahan is a piece horse, sturdy executor, and terrific chief who led the women and men of ICE to attain the American individuals’s mandate to focus on, arrest, and deport prison unlawful aliens,” Noem added. “We want her all the perfect.”

Whereas Sheahan and Noem have a longstanding relationship, her set up because the second-highest rating official at ICE pissed off some company officers, who famous the 28-year-old lacked important legislation enforcement expertise.

Earlier than coming to ICE, Sheahan was the secretary of the Louisiana Division of Wildlife and Fisheries. Earlier than that, she was an aide for Noem throughout her governorship in South Dakota.

In a message to ICE workers posted on X shortly after this story was first printed, Sheahan mentioned she was pleased with having “strengthened” ICE and “restored its goal.” 

“As I depart the company, I wish to say that it has been the distinction of my life to serve my nation with all of you,” Sheahan wrote in her message. “I wish to thank President Trump and Secretary Noem for his or her management and for his or her steadfast dedication to our company.”

Noem introduced Thursday that Charles Wall, who was lately the lead lawyer at ICE and was an ICE lawyer for 14 years, will change Sheahan because the company’s deputy director. 

Because the company in command of deportations and immigration arrests within the inside of the nation, ICE has been on the forefront of President Trump’s aggressive crackdown on unlawful immigration. The administration has deployed hundreds of ICE and Border Patrol brokers to main American cities, the place their actions have been denounced by native leaders and residents as harsh and heavy-handed.