President Trump has selected veteran immigration official Dave Venturella to succeed Todd Lyons as Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with the leadership change set to take effect at the end of the month.
According to Gateway Pundit, both CBS News and Fox News reported that Venturella, a longtime ICE insider, will assume the role as Lyons departs after submitting his resignation to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin last month. Lyons, who was appointed Acting ICE Director in March, will remain in place through May 31 to oversee a smooth transition to his successor.
CBS News reported: The Trump administration plans to name longtime immigration official David Venturella as the interim head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, replacing acting director Todd Lyons, who is leaving the agency at the end of the month, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson and two U.S. officials told CBS News. Venturella has served at ICE under both Republican and Democratic administrations and returned to the agency last year, after President Trump returned to the White House.
Before rejoining ICE, Venturella worked at GEO Group, a major private corrections company that runs immigration detention facilities nationwide, experience that aligns with a tougher enforcement posture and reliance on secure detention. Venturella who also worked at the now-defunct Immigration and Naturalization Service, or INS is regarded as a close ally of White House border chief Tom Homan, with his anticipated appointment first detailed by The New York Times.
As the federal agency at the forefront of Mr. Trumps deportation crackdown, ICE has faced mounting scrutiny over the past year, including accusations that some of its operations have been heavy-handed. ICE officers have also endured withering criticism for using masks, a practice Trump administration officials have defended as a necessary safeguard against doxxing, underscoring how frontline agents enforcing federal law remain political targets even as the administration moves to restore border security and the rule of law.
Login