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

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has announced that David Venturella, a former executive at the private prison company GEO Group, will become the new acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

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

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“Dave Venturella will serve as acting ICE director following Todd Lyons’ departure,” DHS said in a statement.

ICE has played a key role in the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, part of a hardline approach to immigration that has restricted both legal and illegal pathways to the US.

But Trump’s efforts to detain and deport foreign nationals have been an economic boon for private contractors that service the US immigration enforcement system.

GEO Group, one such company, has seen its stock price rise by 55 percent over the last six months.

The Trump administration’s efforts to expand detention infrastructure have resulted in a series of lucrative contracts for the company, including a $1bn agreement to open a facility in New Jersey’s largest city, Newark.

“Last year was the most successful period for new business wins in our company’s history,” CEO George Zoley said during an earnings call last week.

Venturella, who has worked at ICE under both Democratic and Republican administrations, served as an executive at GEO Group before rejoining ICE last year.

Silky Shah, the executive director of the Detention Watch Network, told The Associated Press news agency that Venturella’s hiring was a “classic example of the revolving-door phenomena”.

“Venturella’s intimate knowledge of ICE will likely yield another spike of ICE detention facility openings,” Shah added.

GEO Group operates more than a dozen federal civil immigration detention centres across the US. Immigration detention centres have been the subject of frequent allegations by rights groups of poor conditions and widespread rights abuses.

At least 18 deaths have been reported in ICE custody during the first four months of 2026, following a two-decade high of 31 deaths across 2025.

ICE has also been accused of deploying excessive tactics during enforcement operations in public areas.

In January, for instance, a campaign of aggressive immigration raids in the midwestern city of Minneapolis resulted in federal agents causing the fatal shootings of two US citizens: Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good.

Their deaths ignited widespread anger over the Trump administration’s approach towards immigration enforcement.