Acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons has been hospitalized at least twice for stress-related issues as he has carried out President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration agenda — strain that has caused him to struggle to make key decisions for the agency, according to two current and two former administration officials.
The hospitalizations took place over the last seven months. In one incident in December, Lyons’ security detail drove him to a hospital in Washington and he was admitted overnight, according to one former and two current administration officials. During an episode in September, the three people said Lyons was hospitalized for at least one night.
In a separate incident in Los Angeles over the summer, Lyons became so distressed when ICE agents couldn’t locate a migrant on their target list after a ride along with top administration officials that one of his bodyguards took a portable defibrillator from a nearby government office to Lyons in case he needed medical intervention, according to one current and one former official.
During these episodes, the current and former officials said they saw Lyons break out into a full sweat, with his face turning deep red. They also attributed the source of the pressure to ramp up deportations to the White House and top adviser Stephen Miller, who yelled at Lyons during morning phone calls with administration officials, according to four people who were on the calls. Other officials disputed that Miller yelled at Lyons, with one saying the deputy chief of staff was merely “passionate.”
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