Noem Taps New Leadership at ICE, Moves to Identify Leakers Within DHS

Noem has appointed Todd Lyon as acting director and Madison Xiahan as assistant director.

Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Christie Noem on Sunday appointed a new leadership in the US Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and said he will continue to use polygraph tests to identify information leaks within the department.

Noem has appointed Todd Lyon as acting director and Madison Xiahan as assistant director. Lyons is currently acting as the acting executive associate director of the ICE execution and removal business.

“Todd Lyons and Madison Xiahan are workplace horses, powerful enforcers and accountable leaders who lead ice men and women to lead ice men and women to target, arrest and enforce illegal aliens,” Noem said in a statement.

According to DHS, Lyons is the former assistant director of field operations for Ice’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division, overseeing 25 field offices and domestic operations throughout the United States.

He also served as field office director at the Boston Field Office, where he oversaw ICE enforcement activities in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Vermont.

Before joining ICE, Lions served in the US Air Force in 1993 and began his civil law enforcement career in Florida in 1999. He became an immigration enforcement agent in Dallas in 2007.

Xiahan is currently the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry advises as a member of the state cabinet in this role and a member of the Uniform Command Group.

Xiahan previously worked for NOEM when the DHS secretary was the governor of South Dakota.

DHS identifying information leaks

The appointment of a new leadership comes when NOEM vows to find and prosecute people who may be leaking information to the media about their immigration enforcement business.

Noem told CBS on Sunday that DHS will continue to use polygraph tests to identify responsible personnel who leak information and endanger the safety of law enforcement officials.

“The authorities I have under the Department of Homeland Security are broad and wide, and I plan to use all of them to make sure we are following the law.

Last week, DHS identified two leaking agents in the department. Noem said on March 8 that individuals could be charged and face up to 10 years of prison.

In an interview with CBS, Noem said the two were leaking plans for enforcement activities “in some cities.”

The number of illegal immigrant arrests in the country jumped significantly under the Trump administration. On February 26, NOEM announced that over 20,000 illegal immigrants were arrested domestically in a month, with “a 627% increase in monthly arrests compared to just 33,000 in all major Biden arrests last year.”

Last month, DHS announced that Border Patrol agents arrested just 200 illegal immigrants on February 22nd at the tropical border. The least concern in one day in over 15 years.

The agency has stepped up its crackdown on illegal immigration following President Donald Trump’s enforcement actions aimed at deterring illegal immigration in the country.

Trump has also ordered the CBP One App service to be terminated. It was established by the previous Biden administration to allow people without legal entry papers to schedule bookings at US ports of entry.

DHS announced on February 26 that if aliens in the country fail to register with the federal government, they could face fines, potential imprisonment, or both. The purpose of this move is to allow law enforcement agencies to track and enforce self-declarations on illegal immigrants.

Naveen Athrappulary contributed to this report.