The Deputy Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is resigning from her position to launch a congressional campaign in Ohio. 

Sheahan, a 28-year-old who identifies as a “Trump conservative,” collaborated closely with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and played a key role in the President’s stringent second-term immigration enforcement and deportation initiative.

In a released Thursday, Sheahan declared her candidacy to oppose 22-term Democratic Representative Marcy Kaptur in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, emphasizing her record of deporting undocumented immigrants through ICE and her personal ties to Ohio.

“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,” Sheahan stated. “At ICE, I returned security to our communities. I’m ready to take that same mindset to Congress.”

In her campaign video, she also criticized Kaptur—the longest-serving woman in the House, having held her seat since 1983—alleging the congresswoman voted to deny funding for Trump’s border wall while approving “billions in tax payers handouts to illegals.” 

Sheahan shared her letter of from ICE on Thursday, writing that her tenure at the agency was “the honor of my life” and expressing gratitude to Noem and the President. 

A native of Ohio and Ohio State University graduate, Sheahan previously served as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Her earlier roles include working for the Ohio Republican Party and acting as political director for Noem when she was governor of South Dakota. Sheahan joined ICE last March as the Trump Administration intensified its measures to limit immigration and conduct large-scale deportations.

Noem released a statement on Thursday endorsing her longtime ally.

“I’ve known her for years, she loves her family, Ohio and her country,” Noem wrote, describing Sheahan as a “work horse, strong executor, and 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.”

“She will be a great defender of freedom when she goes to Congress,” Noem continued.

In her role at ICE, Sheahan managed the agency’s daily activities and supervised a significant workforce increase under Trump. The agency’s hiring practices during this rapid expansion to bring on thousands of new officers have attracted . ICE has also encountered broad criticism for its part in Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Sheahan’s exit from ICE occurs as that criticism has intensified into and demands to and after an ICE officer shot U.S. citizen Renee Good in Minneapolis last week. On the day of Sheahan’s resignation, with conflicts between protesters and police escalating in that Minnesota city, Trump threatened to use the to send troops to the state. 

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the patriots of ICE, who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the Insurrection Act,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Sheahan did not reference the agency’s surrounding controversy or protests during her campaign announcement.

Although Kaptur has been repeatedly reelected in her Ohio district, it supported Trump in the 2024 presidential election and became more advantageous for Republicans following a redrawing last year during the ongoing . The currently rates the seat as one of the nation’s most competitive in the approaching midterms, classifying it as a toss-up.