Trump nominates David Venturella, an ICE veteran, to lead immigration agency

The Trump administration confirmed Tuesday that David Venturella will be the next acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Venturella, a career officer with a stint at private prison firm GEO Group, returned to the agency last year and will replace Todd Lyons, who announced his departure in April and will leave the post on May 31.

The takeover comes at a delicate time for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is still reeling from the wear and tear of the Minneapolis operations, especially the shootings in which federal agents killed two U.S. citizens. Venturella's choice fits with the line of Secretary Markwayne Mullin, a proponent of lowering the agency's media profile.

"My goal in six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day," Mullin said at his confirmation hearing in March.

ICE has not had a Senate-approved director since January 2017. Venturella, who left the agency during  President Barack Obama's administration, returns with internal backing and key allies in the White House, including Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff and the president's point man on immigration issues. The agency's popularity fell so much in the last year that Trump even suggested a name change: ICE to NICE.

The naming generates reservations among those who question the influence of private prison companies over ICE, which relies on them to hold illegal immigrants. In March, The New York Times revealed that Venturella had contacted ICE officials in Miami to have its agents detain the ex-wife of a Trump ally embroiled in a child custody dispute. DHS maintained that the woman was arrested on a criminal charge and rejected any political interpretation of the case.