Dave Venturella named new acting ICE director

Kousholy Ema: A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed to The Hill’s broadcast partner NewsNation that President Trump will select Dave Venturella to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in an acting capacity after the departure of Todd Lyons, who is currently serving as the acting ICE chief.

Lyons is expected to leave the administration for a role in the private sector on May 31, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced in a post on social platform X last month.

“Director Lyons has been a great leader of ICE and key player in helping the Trump administration remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members from American communities,” Mullin wrote.

“He jumpstarted an agency that had not been allowed to do its job for four years,” the secretary continued. “Thanks to his leadership, American communities are safer.”

Lyons has worked for ICE for nearly 20 years.

The move to pick ICE veteran Venturella comes after a tumultuous year for the agency following increased scrutiny on Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts following the killing of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota.

Venturella, who worked for ICE during the administrations of former President Obama and former President George W. Bush, currently works for the department to facilitate contracts between ICE and immigrant detention facilities. Before he rejoined the department last year, Venturella worked for a private prison company that operates immigration detention facilities, according to reporting from CBS News.

The Senate has not confirmed a director for ICE since 2017, resulting in almost ten years of the agency having a leader in an acting capacity.

Venturella’s pick comes amid a funding impasse for ICE and Border Patrol, which were not covered in a recent DHS funding bill ending a record-long partial government shutdown.

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