President Donald Trump on Saturday announced his nomination of Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, handing the agency’s expansive deportation mission to a fellow Oklahoman with deep ties to the new Homeland Security secretary. Trump, posting on his Truth Social platform, described Schroyer as a former U.S. Marine and a “PATRIOT with real operational experience,” calling him a “proven leader with DECADES of experience locking up the worst of the worst.” The move places a 29-year law enforcement veteran atop an agency that has become the front line of the administration’s mass deportation pledge—and that has drawn fierce public backlash after enforcement raids sparked fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year. Schroyer’s nomination was immediately cheered by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who shares the same home state. Earlier this month, Mullin brought Schroyer on stage at a National Sheriffs’ Association event, calling him a “good friend” and noting that the department had just hired him. In a statement Saturday, Mullin praised the trooper’s career and his collaboration with federal and state partners on immigration enforcement programs, saying Trump “made a great pick” and that Schroyer’s leadership would “empower the men and women of ICE to deport criminal illegal aliens, secure the homeland, and protect the American people.” If confirmed, Schroyer will steer ICE during a turbulent stretch. Public sentiment has soured against the administration’s immigration crackdown, which sent federal officers into American cities resulting in high-profile raids, soaring tensions, and violent confrontations. The fatal shootings in Minneapolis, along with clashes between protesters and law enforcement, have intensified scrutiny of the agency. The prospective ICE director will also oversee an agency in the midst of a historic expansion. A one-time injection of $75 billion last year enabled the hiring of 12,000 additional officers and significantly expanded detention capacity. Meanwhile, Mullin, who assumed his DHS post in March, has vowed to keep the department off the front page as tempers over immigration enforcement continue to flare.