An ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer’s badge and weapon are seen in Washington, DC on August 30, 2025. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Longtime federal immigration official David Venturella will lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency spearheading President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesman.
Venturella will replace outgoing acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, who announced last month that he would leave his position by May 31, the DHS official told States Newsroom on Wednesday. Venturella will also act in the role. ICE has not had a enduring, Senate-confirmed director since Trump took office in 2017.
Venturella will lead an agency that is under intense scrutiny from Congress and the public after federal immigration agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January.
The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti led to a months-long shutdown of DHS after Democrats pushed for limits on federal immigration agents. The shutdown ended last month, and Republicans are pushing ahead with funding for ICE and Customs and Border Protection for the next three yearsthrough a intricate legislative process that does not require democratic votes.
Venturella worked at DHS during the Obama administration when he led the Secure Communities program, in which local law enforcement shared fingerprints and booking information with federal immigration officials to identify immigrants in the country without legal authorization. The Obama administration eventually ended the program, but Trump restarted it in 2017.
Venturella has also worked for the private prison company GEO, which makes billions from government contracts to detain immigrants across the country. He retired from GEO in 2023 after serving as vice president of customer relations.
