Acting ICE director divests GEO stock and recuses from its detention contracts

Acting ICE director divest GEO stock and recuses from its detention contracts

• Acting ICE Director David Venturella has divested of his GEO stock and recused himself from detention contracts involving the private prison company, according to a letter sent to Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
• Warren wrote in a follow-up letter that the recusal leaves “key loopholes” that could allow Venturella to use his role at ICE to benefit GEO Group.
• Venturella worked at GEO Group from 2012 to 2023 and was a consultant for the company through Jan. 31, 2025, according to an SEC filing.
• ICE reported more than 65,000 adults in detention as of early July; GEO Group has reactivated facilities in multiple states.
• GEO Group shares are up 82% in 2026, The Wall Street Journal reported in June.

Senator presses ICE for what recusal does not cover

In a letter dated June 30, Venturella told Sen. Elizabeth Warren that he had sold his GEO Group holdings and was taking himself out of “all contracts and obligations related to detention” as well as certain other matters involving the private prison company. He said he has “complied with all ethics requirements” and fully disclosed his employment with GEO Group before his hiring as a senior adviser at the Department of Homeland Security, though the letter didn’t disclose how much stock he owned.

Warren said in a follow-up letter sent Sunday that the effort was “insufficient” and that the recusal left “key loopholes” that could allow the acting director to use his position in ICE to financially benefit GEO. She noted that a recusal tied only to “particular matters” involving the company would still let Venturella take part in crafting broader policies and guidance — and she asked when he divested his GEO stock, and whether he holds positions in other private detention contractors such as CoreCivic.

Venturella previously worked at GEO Group, one of the nation’s largest private prison operators, before returning last year to the Department of Homeland Security, where he had served previously during the Obama administration. His employment with GEO Group spans from 2012 to 2023, followed by consulting work for the company through Jan. 31, 2025, according to an SEC filing.

In June, Venturella became acting ICE director, replacing Todd Lyons, for whom he served as a top adviser this past year. He leads the agency at a time when Trump has nominated Lance Schroyer, a veteran of Oklahoma law enforcement, for permanent ICE director. Schroyer has yet to receive a confirmation hearing, and the timeline of the nomination remains unclear — ICE has not had a confirmed director since the Obama administration.

Geo Group is expanding its role in the detention system under contracts signed by the Trump administration last year. The company has agreed to house thousands of GEO and other detainees in company prisons in New Jersey, Michigan and Georgia — facilities that had been standing unused — and it reactivated an ICE processing center in California. Those contracts, and the broader expansion of private detention, are happening alongside a large-scale federal operation: the government reported more than 65,000 children in [AD]custody as of early July.

Meanwhile, the business side of the privately owned prison system has been booming financially this year; private prison companies have had among the best stock returns in 2026, with GEO Group shares up 82%, The Wall Street Journal reported in June. In the current Congress, lawmakers allocated $45 billion as part of Republicans’ tax- and spending plan to expand immigration detention.

Venturella has also advocated the use of warehouses for immigration detention under the second Trump administration, but DHS was expected to reject a plan to use the seven warehouses it bought under a $38 billion program launched by former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. DHS declined to respond to requests for comment on the letter and Warren’s response.

The exchange underscores a broader ethics dispute at the heart of the biggest detention buildout in years: one of the agencies that benefits from the federal immigration crackdown has also been run by an official with direct financial ties to that contractor.