# Former private prison official named to lead ICE  
**Published:** 2026-05-13T19:14:47.000Z  
**Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/13/repub/trump-taps-former-career-ice-official-to-lead-agency/)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/former-private-prison-official-named-to-lead-ice

The Trump administration has selected David Venturella, a longtime immigration official with ties to the private prison industry, to serve as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to [the Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/13/repub/trump-taps-former-career-ice-official-to-lead-agency/). Venturella will replace Todd Lyons, whose last day is May 31, marking another leadership change at the Department of Homeland Security amid a tumultuous year for the federal immigration agency.

Venturella brings more than two decades of experience in immigration enforcement, having previously served at the agency during the Obama and George W. Bush administrations. He worked at the GEO Group, a major private prison company that operates immigration detention facilities under contract with ICE, before rejoining the Trump administration last year. At the time of his appointment, Venturella was working for DHS overseeing contracts between ICE and detention facilities.

The selection drew criticism from immigration advocates concerned about the influence of private prison companies in federal immigration enforcement. Venturella previously led the Secure Communities program, which shared booking information from local law enforcement with federal immigration authorities to identify people in the country illegally. The Obama administration ended the program in 2014, citing concerns it alienated immigrant communities, but President Trump reinstated it in 2017.

ICE has lacked a Senate-confirmed director since 2017, with leadership instead filled by acting appointments. Venturella will oversee an agency that has faced intense scrutiny following the January deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis at the hands of federal immigration agents. The shootings prompted a months-long funding dispute in Congress before Republicans moved forward with a separate funding mechanism for ICE and Customs and Border Protection.

Under Lyons' tenure, ICE substantially expanded operations to support the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda. The agency made nearly 379,000 arrests and removed over 475,000 people during the first year of Trump's second term, according to congressional testimony. Venturella is considered an ally of White House border czar Tom Homan, who championed his selection. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin praised Lyons' leadership, saying he "jumpstarted an agency that had not been allowed to do its job for four years."

## Sources

- [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/13/repub/trump-taps-former-career-ice-official-to-lead-agency/)
- [CBS News reporting on Venturella's background and appointment](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-plans-to-name-david-venturella-as-interim-ice-chief-after-lyons-departure/)
- [CNN coverage of the leadership transition](https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/12/politics/david-venturella-acting-ice-director)
- [NPR reporting on detention and deportation operations](https://www.npr.org/2026/05/12/g-s1-121766/ice-acting-director-venturella)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Examiner, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/13/repub/trump-taps-former-career-ice-official-to-lead-agency/.