The No. 2 official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Madison Sheahan, is stepping down from her position to make a bid for a congressional seat in Ohio.
The deputy director announced her campaign in a video announcement Thursday, positioning herself as a Trump-supporting conservative running for Congress to “protect American jobs, American paychecks, and American values.”
She also shared her letter of resignation, voicing appreciation for her work on President Trump’s immigration crackdown campaign.
Ms. Sheahan was installed as ICE’s deputy director last year when the president amped up the pressure on curbing immigration via arrests and deportations across the country.
“In just one year, we’ve made history, recruiting 12,000 new ICE officers and agents, and deporting over 2.5 million illegal aliens. Ohio neighborhoods are safer thanks to President Trump and ICE,” she said in her video.
Ms. Sheahan is running for Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s seat, who is the longest-serving woman in the House.
Ms. Kaptur has held onto her seat since 1983, narrowly defeating Trump-backed opponent Derek Merrin last year, even as the state has leaned red more recently. Her district voted for President Trump in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.
“In less than one year at ICE, I’ve stopped more illegal immigration than Marcy Kaptur has in her 43 years in Washington,” Ms. Sheahan said in her announcement video.
A half-dozen hopeful candidates have tossed their hats into the GOP primary, while Ms. Kaptur is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
“While Republicans from near and far will fight through a messy primary in this district they gerrymandered again just this fall, Congresswoman Kaptur is focused on delivering real results for her constituents,” Ms. Kaptur’s campaign said.
As more Republicans are vying for her seat, the National Republican Congressional Committee said that “Northwest Ohio is ready for change.”
“Time and time again, out-of-touch Marcy Kaptur has failed Northwest Ohio by rejecting millions for the district, increasing costs, and pushing a radical far-left agenda,” NRCC spokesman Zach Bannon said.
But the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee stood behind the incumbent, adding, “the clown car Republican primary in Ohio’s 9th just keeps growing.”
“No matter which corporate lapdog who wants to gut Medicaid and raise costs makes it out of the infighting and backstabbing, Marcy Kaptur will defeat their special interest agenda because Ohioans know she fights for working people, not billionaires,” DCCC spokesperson Riya Vishi said in a statement.
A consistent ally of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Ms. Sheahan previously worked for Ms. Noem when she was governor of South Dakota.
“I’ve known her for years, she loves her family, Ohio and her country. She will be a great defender of freedom when she goes to Congress,” Ms. Noem said of her departure.
She described Ms. Sheahan as “a terrific leader who led the men and women of ICE to achieve the American people’s mandate to target, arrest, and deport criminal illegal aliens.”
