The Administration · Justice, security and the military
Acting ICE Director Acting
A career deportation official who spent a decade as an executive at the private prison company GEO Group and now runs ICE without Senate confirmation, as every ICE chief has since 2017.
David Venturella began his career in 1986 as a deportation officer in Chicago for the old Immigration and Naturalization Service. 4 He rose through that agency and, after it was dissolved in 2003, joined the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where he became director of the Office of Detention and Removal Operations. 4 He holds a bachelor's degree from Bradley University. 4 In Senate testimony in 2005 he described himself as the son of an immigrant, CBS News reported. 2
He returned to ICE in 2008 to run Secure Communities, the program that sends fingerprints from local jail bookings to federal immigration authorities, and later led the agency's enforcement and removal arm before retiring in 2012. 3 4 He then spent 2012 to 2023 at GEO Group, a for-profit prison company that runs immigration detention centers, becoming a senior vice president. 3 4 After retiring he consulted for GEO on contracts, according to a securities filing cited by NBC News, which also reported that GEO holds more than $1 billion in ICE contracts. 3
Venturella rejoined ICE in 2025 after Trump returned to office and is regarded as an ally of border adviser Tom Homan. 2 On May 12, 2026 the Department of Homeland Security confirmed he would succeed acting director Todd Lyons, whose last day was May 31. 2 3 He took over on June 1. 1 5 ICE's website gives his title as senior official performing the duties of the director, and no one has been nominated for Senate confirmation in the sources reviewed. 4 5
The acts and events that have defined the post so far, oldest first.
What critics, courts or investigators have said, and the answer given. An allegation is not a finding.
According to Wikipedia's summary of a New York Times report, Venturella in June 2025 asked ICE to act against the Brazilian former partner of Paolo Zampolli, a Trump associate, at Zampolli's request. 1
Their side: No public response found.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani says ICE has staged enforcement operations on city-owned lots, including parkland, and is threatening legal action. The Department of Homeland Security says ICE's presence is fully authorized under federal law.
File checked Nov. 13, 2026. Something wrong or out of date? Tell the desk.
