Mr. Venturella will take the helm of the Office of Immigration Enforcement after serving as an executive at GEO Group.
Published May 13, 2026
President Donald Trump’s administration has announced that David Venturella, a former executive at private prison company GEO Group, will be the new acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees the agency, announced Tuesday that Venturella will replace Todd Lyons, who is retiring on May 31.
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“Following the resignation of Todd Lyons, Dave Venturella will serve as Acting Director of ICE,” 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 restricts both legal and illegal routes into the United States.
But President Trump’s efforts to detain and deport foreign nationals have been an economic boon for private contractors serving the U.S. immigration enforcement system.
One such company, GEO Group, has seen its share price rise 55% over the past six months.
The Trump administration’s efforts to expand detention infrastructure have led to a flurry of lucrative deals for the company, including a $1 billion deal to open a facility in Newark, New Jersey’s largest city.
“Last year was the most successful period for winning new business in our company’s history,” CEO George Zoley said on an earnings call last week.
Mr. Venturella worked for ICE under both Democratic and Republican administrations and was an executive at GEO Group before returning to ICE last year.
Silky Shah, executive director of the Detention Oversight Network, told The Associated Press that Venturella’s hiring is “a classic example of the revolving door phenomenon.”
“Mr. Venturella’s deep knowledge of ICE will likely lead to another surge in the opening of ICE detention facilities,” Shah added.
GEO Group operates more than a dozen federal civilian immigration detention centers across the United States. Immigration detention centers are the subject of frequent accusations by rights groups of squalid conditions and widespread rights violations.
At least 18 deaths were reported in ICE custody in the first four months of 2026, while 2025 saw the highest death toll in 20 years at 31.
ICE has also been accused of deploying excessive tactics during enforcement operations in public places.
For example, in January, an aggressive immigrant raid operation in the Midwestern city of Minneapolis resulted in federal agents shooting and killing two Americans, Alex Preti and Renee Nicole Good.
Their deaths sparked widespread anger over the Trump administration’s approach to immigration enforcement.
