Trump taps David Venturella, former private prison executive, to lead ICE

Venturella volition helm the migration enforcement bureau aft antecedently serving successful an enforcement relation astatine GEO Group.

The medication of United States President Donald Trump has announced that David Venturella, a erstwhile enforcement astatine the backstage situation institution GEO Group, volition go the caller acting manager of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees the agency, said connected Tuesday that Venturella would regenerate Todd Lyons, who is leaving the authorities connected May 31.

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“Dave Venturella volition service arsenic acting ICE manager pursuing Todd Lyons’ departure,” DHS said successful a statement.

ICE has played a cardinal relation successful the Trump administration’s wide deportation campaign, portion of a hardline attack to migration that has restricted some ineligible and amerciable pathways to the US.

But Trump’s efforts to detain and deport overseas nationals person been an economical boon for private contractors that work the US migration enforcement system.

GEO Group, 1 specified company, has seen its banal terms emergence by 55 percent implicit the past six months.

The Trump administration’s efforts to grow detention infrastructure person resulted successful a bid of lucrative contracts for the company, including a $1bn statement to unfastened a installation successful New Jersey’s largest city, Newark.

“Last twelvemonth was the astir palmy play for caller concern wins successful our company’s history,” CEO George Zoley said during an net telephone past week.

Venturella, who has worked astatine ICE nether some Democratic and Republican administrations, served arsenic an enforcement astatine GEO Group earlier rejoining ICE past year.

Silky Shah, the enforcement manager of the Detention Watch Network, told The Associated Press quality bureau that Venturella’s hiring was a “classic illustration of the revolving-door phenomena”.

“Venturella’s intimate cognition of ICE volition apt output different spike of ICE detention installation openings,” Shah added.

GEO Group operates much than a twelve national civilian migration detention centres crossed the US. Immigration detention centres person been the taxable of predominant allegations by rights groups of poor conditions and wide rights abuses.

At slightest 18 deaths person been reported successful ICE custody during the archetypal 4 months of 2026, pursuing a two-decade precocious of 31 deaths crossed 2025.

ICE has besides been accused of deploying excessive tactics during enforcement operations successful nationalist areas.

In January, for instance, a run of assertive migration raids successful the midwestern metropolis of Minneapolis resulted successful national agents causing the fatal shootings of 2 US citizens: Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good.

Their deaths ignited wide choler implicit the Trump administration’s attack towards migration enforcement.