A family court case could complicate the confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump's nominee to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The pick, Richard "Lance" Schroyer, was taken to court by his ex-wife in 2021 over allegations he failed to pay any child support for more than four years, according to family court records obtained by PunchUp, the Daily Beast's investigations outlet. Immigration sources say the case calls his qualifications into question.
“How can he be expected to oversee billions of dollars and tens of thousands of agents when he can’t even provide child support to his kids?” one immigration source asked PunchUp.
The 54-year-old former Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper was nominated by Trump on June 27 to run the agency overseeing his administration's mass-deportation efforts. He is a longtime associate of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
Court filings show Schroyer's second wife, Andrea, petitioned a judge in Rogers County, Oklahoma, on July 27, 2021, to hold him in contempt. Under the terms of their January 2017 divorce, Schroyer was ordered to pay $304.37 a month in child support, but her filing alleges he "refused" and "has never made a child support payment."
The filing further accuses Schroyer of "willful and contemptuous actions," claiming his ex-wife was left covering food, utilities, school supplies, extracurricular activities and clothing for their children on her own. It also alleges he never took the children to routine medical appointments while they were in his care, and left her name on a joint Best Buy credit card, damaging her credit.
The case was dropped in 2022, with Schroyer's ex-wife writing off the money owed and the couple's custody arrangement revised. Schroyer, who has been married three times, did not respond to requests for comment, nor did his ex-wife or their attorneys. The case was first reported by The Oklahoman.
The disclosure comes as Schroyer, a former Marine sergeant who spent 25 years with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol before retiring as a major in May, awaits a confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). If confirmed, he would be the first ICE director confirmed by the Senate since early 2017.
The nomination has drawn criticism from within the agency. One senior ICE source told PunchUp that Schroyer lacks management experience, warning of potential retirements among staff. Sources described him as "Markwayne's guy," a reference to his relationship with Mullin, and said border czar Tom Homan and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller were not consulted on the pick.