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Deaths in ICE Custody Comparison
Reported deaths within ICE detention facilities during 2025 and early 2026.
Primary Sources
Trump taps David Venturella, former private prison executive, to lead ...
Venturella will helm the immigration enforcement agency after previously serving in an executive role at GEO Group.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.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Rights groups, Milwaukee leaders slam ICE’s arrest of Palestinian advocatelist 2 of 3Miami host committee assured ICE will not be at World Cup gameslist 3 of 3US reinstates deportation proceedings against Palestinian student Mahdawiend of list“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 f...
Former private prison executive David Venturella will become ICE's ...
David Venturella, a former executive at a private prison operator, will serve as the acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Trump administration says, after the agency’s current leader steps down at the end of the month. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said late Tuesday that Venturella would succeed Todd Lyons, who led the agency through much of the administration’s tumultuous crackdown on immigration. ICE did not immediately respond to an email seeking additional information Wednesday.Venturella left the Geo Group in early 2023 and has been working at ICE leading the division that oversees detention contracts, members of Congress wrote in a public letter earlier this year.At the Geo Group, which houses around one-third of ICE detainees, Venturella served in a number of posts, including executive vice president overseeing corporate development, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. He also oversaw removal operations for ICE in 2011 and 2012 after working for federal contractors, including one that specializes in security clearances and background checks. Geo has benefited from President Donald Trump’s mass deportation push, garnering big contracts to open three shuttered facilities. Among them was a $1 billion, 15-year deal for a detention center in New Jersey’s largest city. “Last year was the most successful period for new business wins in our company’s history,” Geo’s CEO George Zoley said during an earnings call last week. Geo owns and operates 23 ICE detention facilities, with about 26,000 available beds. Zoley also said that ICE’s air transportation subcontract had continued to steadily increase and that it secured a new contract last year for electronic monitoring. To Silky Shah, executive director of the Detention Watch Network, the hire is a “classic example of the revolving door phenomena.” In a statement, she expressed concern that “Venturella’s intimate knowledge of ICE will likely yield another spike of ICE detention facility openings.” Venturella will lead ICE at a time when the public mood has soured on Trump’s immigration crackdown, which sent surges of federal immigration officers into American cities to round up immigrants. Those raids sent tensions soaring and prompted clashes between protesters and law enforcement, leading to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year.Trump returned to the White House on a promise of mass deportations, an...
Trump taps former private prison executive to lead ICE
David Venturella has been appointed as the new acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, replacing retiring Todd Lyons.
Trump administration elevates former private prison company exec to ...
Trump administration elevates former private prison company exec to lead ICE David Venturella will lead the agency on an acting basis when Todd Lyons retires at the end of the month.
