Pressroom

Washington, DC — In response to former GEO Group executive, David Venturella, being named as the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting director, Silky Shah, executive director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement:

“If there was ever a classic example of the revolving door phenomena it’s David Venturella. Venturella has gone from high ranking positions at ICE to GEO Group to ICE once again, now poised to serve as the new acting director of ICE starting June 1.

“Since Trump returned to office, GEO Group and other private contractors have been teeming over the administration’s massive expansion of ICE immigrant detention, including cashing in on current and former BOP prisons and positioning themselves to open new facilities including ICE’s detention warehouse model that has garnered widespread opposition in communities across the country. In February, GEO Group reported a company record of $254 million in profit last year – a roughly 700% increase over 2024.

“Venturella built his career on mass incarceration, including separating loved ones through detention and deportation, having previously worked at ICE during both the Bush and Obama administrations. Not only is he fully bought into the culture of secrecy and violence at ICE, he has helped craft it. During his previous tenure at ICE, Venturella ramped up the deportation program, Secure Communities, that funnels people into detention and deportation by combining racial profiling and data sharing surveillance to target people through ICE and local police collaboration. Venturella was a key contributor to Obama’s notoriety as the ‘deporter in chief.’

“Like Tom Homan, Venturella’s intimate knowledge of ICE will likely yield another spike of ICE detention facility openings in the coming months as the agency operates with impunity and unprecedented funding, including the potential for more than $38 billion through the budget reconciliation process in addition to the $75 billion received last summer.

“Let me be clear: no matter who is at the helm, the evidence against ICE is indisputable. ICE kills people and threatens community safety across the country. No one is safe when ICE is present – whether on the streets or in one of the agency’s more than 200 abuse-ridden detention facilities. People are dying in detention at a shocking rate – nearly 50 deaths since Trump took office — and ICE agents are tearing families apart and shooting people on the streets, causing chaos wherever they go, whether in Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles or beyond. The American public is clear on this: Abolish ICE.”

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