The administration of US 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.
ICE has played a key role in the Trump regime's mass deportation campaign, part of a hardline approach to immigration that has restricted both legal and illegal pathways to the US.
However, 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 regime'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 Newark, New Jersey's largest city.
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 that Venturella's hiring was a "classic example of the revolving-door phenomena" and predicted another spike in ICE detention facility openings.
GEO Group operates more than a dozen federal civil immigration detention centers across the US. These centers have been subject to 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, aggressive immigration raids in Minneapolis resulted in federal agents fatally shooting two US citizens, sparking widespread anger.
Source: www.aljazeera.com