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One House Democrat said the appointment of former GEO Group executive David Venturella “is to ensure Trump’s corporate bosses continue profiting from our communities’ pain.”
Jake Johnson
May 13, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
The Trump administration announced Tuesday that former private prison executive David Venturella will lead US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in an acting capacity after the agency’s current director departs at the end of the month.
Venturella has been a senior adviser to ICE since February 2025 and previously worked at the private prison giant GEO Group for more than a decade, most recently serving as the company’s senior vice president of client relations until 2023. GEO Group is a major beneficiary of federal contracts, running immigration detention centers for ICE.
The Washington Post noted that GEO Group also “owns the only company with an ICE contract to track immigrants through GPS ankle monitors.”
“A federal ethics rule generally bars government employees from working on contracts awarded to their former employers for one year, but the administration granted him a waiver from this rule,” the Post observed.
GEO Group’s PAC donated heavily to President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign and has seen a hefty return on its investment. The company reported $254 million in profits for fiscal year 2025—a 700% increase compared to the previous year—and boasted “record-setting new contract wins totaling up to $520 million.”
The Trump administration announced Tuesday that former private prison executive David Venturella will lead US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in an acting capacity after the agency’s current director departs at the end of the month.
Venturella has been a senior adviser to ICE since February 2025 and previously worked at the private prison giant GEO Group for more than a decade, most recently serving as the company’s senior vice president of client relations until 2023. GEO Group is a major beneficiary of federal contracts, running immigration detention centers for ICE.
The Washington Post noted that GEO Group also “owns the only company with an ICE contract to track immigrants through GPS ankle monitors.”
“A federal ethics rule generally bars government employees from working on contracts awarded to their former employers for one year, but the administration granted him a waiver from this rule,” the Post observed.
GEO Group’s PAC donated heavily to President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign and has seen a hefty return on its investment. The company reported $254 million in profits for fiscal year 2025—a 700% increase compared to the previous year—and boasted “record-setting new contract wins totaling up to $520 million.”
Demonstrators protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Ochopee, Florida on January 11, 2026.
(Photo by Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)
As an ICE adviser, Venturella has advocated for the use of warehouses to detain immigrants, a practice that has drawn nationwide outrage. NBC News noted that “after he retired from GEO, Venturella was a consultant for the company, advising on new and existing contracts, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.”
The Trump administration’s decision to elevate Venturella to the head of ICE comes as congressional Republicans are working to approve tens of billions of dollars in additional funding for the agency, even as deaths in detention rise and immigration officers unleashed by the president continue to face backlash for fatal abuses across the country.
The GOP’s budget reconciliation proposal, according to an analysis by the American Immigration Council, includes over $38 billion for ICE to “expand and sustain enforcement operations by hiring and equipping personnel across its divisions, supporting detention and removal transportation, upgrading technology and facilities, and expanding 287(g) agreements with local law enforcement.”
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), a lead sponsor of legislation that would terminate all existing federal contracts for immigration detention, said Tuesday that Venturella’s appointment as acting ICE chief “is to ensure Trump’s corporate bosses continue profiting from our communities’ pain.”
“But Americans demand oversight and accountability,” said Ramirez. “We must Melt ICE, end detention, and dismantle [the Department of Homeland Security].”
ICE handed $12M to a 'surveillance' firm whose 'lead scientist' was a stock photo: report
Bennito L. Kelty
May 12, 2026
RAW STORY
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers stand guard as people protest against the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, during a rally against increased immigration enforcement across the city, outside the Whipple Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 8, 2026. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Immigration and Customs Enforcement gave a $12.2 million no-bid contract to a company that appears to have fabricated staff and was originally founded to hold its founder's sailboat, according to a new report.
ICE contracted with Edge Ops LLC for a program called Project SAFE HAVEN, an AI surveillance tool that tracks immigrants' daily routines, habits, and real-time locations and categorizes them as potential threats. But reporting by The Lever found a series of fabrications on the company's website.
On the company's website, the headshot for the lead computer scientist turned out to be a stock photo, according to The Lever.
"The original image is still on offer for royalty-free use on the Dreamstime website," The Lever reported.
Although Edge Ops posted the image as a photo of "Diya Das," the stock photo was labeled on its original site as "Indian lady relax on sofa using tablet look at camera."
The company is led by Robert "Pic" Piccerillo, a former Defense Department official, and Jennifer Piccerillo, a former Raytheon executive. When Piccerillo incorporated Edge Ops in 2014, he wrote in the incorporation documents that the purpose of the company was "to house and to hold a new sailboat," according to The Lever. The company pivoted to defense contracting after Donald Trump's 2024 election win.
The company's website featured big, bold quotes from a happy client named Sarah Mitchell, who was supposedly the chief operating officer of InnovativeTech Solutions.
"Working with Edge Ops has been a game changer for our business," Mitchell's quote read. "We highly recommend Edge Ops to anyone looking to enhance their business operations and drive sustainable growth!"
However, The Lever found no one with that name working at the supposed company, and Edge Ops later altered the quote, Mitchell's name, and her title.
The company also claimed to have helped with "ultra-early" wildfire detection technology, and used photos that came from the German company Dryad Networks, The Lever reported.
When The Lever reached out to Dryad Networks' CEO, Carsten Brinkschulte, he said: "I don't know why they use photos of our tech."
When asked if he had ever worked with Piccerillo, Brinkschulte said, "I have no clue who this guy is."
After The Lever's reporting, Edge Ops overhauled its website. All mention of Project SAFE HAVEN was removed, along with details about the company's leadership team and past clients. The stock photo "lead computer scientist" also disappeared from the site.
Bennito L. Kelty
May 12, 2026
RAW STORY
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers stand guard as people protest against the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, during a rally against increased immigration enforcement across the city, outside the Whipple Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 8, 2026. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Immigration and Customs Enforcement gave a $12.2 million no-bid contract to a company that appears to have fabricated staff and was originally founded to hold its founder's sailboat, according to a new report.
ICE contracted with Edge Ops LLC for a program called Project SAFE HAVEN, an AI surveillance tool that tracks immigrants' daily routines, habits, and real-time locations and categorizes them as potential threats. But reporting by The Lever found a series of fabrications on the company's website.
On the company's website, the headshot for the lead computer scientist turned out to be a stock photo, according to The Lever.
"The original image is still on offer for royalty-free use on the Dreamstime website," The Lever reported.
Although Edge Ops posted the image as a photo of "Diya Das," the stock photo was labeled on its original site as "Indian lady relax on sofa using tablet look at camera."
The company is led by Robert "Pic" Piccerillo, a former Defense Department official, and Jennifer Piccerillo, a former Raytheon executive. When Piccerillo incorporated Edge Ops in 2014, he wrote in the incorporation documents that the purpose of the company was "to house and to hold a new sailboat," according to The Lever. The company pivoted to defense contracting after Donald Trump's 2024 election win.
The company's website featured big, bold quotes from a happy client named Sarah Mitchell, who was supposedly the chief operating officer of InnovativeTech Solutions.
"Working with Edge Ops has been a game changer for our business," Mitchell's quote read. "We highly recommend Edge Ops to anyone looking to enhance their business operations and drive sustainable growth!"
However, The Lever found no one with that name working at the supposed company, and Edge Ops later altered the quote, Mitchell's name, and her title.
The company also claimed to have helped with "ultra-early" wildfire detection technology, and used photos that came from the German company Dryad Networks, The Lever reported.
When The Lever reached out to Dryad Networks' CEO, Carsten Brinkschulte, he said: "I don't know why they use photos of our tech."
When asked if he had ever worked with Piccerillo, Brinkschulte said, "I have no clue who this guy is."
After The Lever's reporting, Edge Ops overhauled its website. All mention of Project SAFE HAVEN was removed, along with details about the company's leadership team and past clients. The stock photo "lead computer scientist" also disappeared from the site.
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