Trump Picks Former GEO Group Executive David Venturella as Acting ICE Director
President Donald Trump’s administration says David Venturella, a longtime immigration official and former private-prison executive, will become acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after Todd Lyons leaves at the end of May.
The move puts a former GEO Group executive atop ICE at a time when the agency is central to Trump’s deportation agenda and its detention system is drawing renewed scrutiny. Reuters reported that DHS confirmed Venturella will serve as acting director after Lyons’ departure. AP News reported Venturella previously led ICE’s detention-contract division and that GEO houses about one-third of ICE detainees.
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The practical consequence is straightforward, ICE’s next acting leader has direct experience with both government enforcement operations and the private detention industry that may benefit from expanded immigration detention.
The appointment also continues a long-running pattern. ICE has not had a Senate-confirmed director since early 2017, leaving one of the federal government’s most controversial enforcement agencies under acting leadership for years.
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