By News Editor 
While Venturella has reportedly divested his Geo stocks and claims to have ‘no financial ties to the company,’ and a spokesperson insists he ‘has no role in reviewing, approving, or recommending contracts,’ significant questions remain unanswered. Most notably, officials declined to explain why Venturella was granted a waiver specifically authorizing him to work on Geo-related matters—a curious arrangement that appears to contradict claims about his lack of involvement. This opacity around the waiver’s rationale, combined with his continued work on issues affecting his former employer, raises transparency concerns that the administration has yet to adequately address
According to The Washington Post, the former Geo group executive, David Venturella, discussed with current the immigration czar, Tom Homan, about joining the Trump administration’s enforcement actions and building out the infrastructure for immigration enforcement. After all, this is his specialty as he has been involved with some aspect of private detention for immigration purposes since 2004, at least.
Here’s his bio from IBM’s business of government page:
David Venturella is the executive director for ICE’s Secure Communities program, which was announced in March 2008. The program is designed to change immigration enforcement by using technology to share information between law enforcement agencies and by applying risk-based methodologies to focus resources on assisting all local communities remove high-risk criminal aliens.
IBM Profile on David Venturella circa 2024.
The ability for a government official to simultaneously work on private initiatives with specific industries while also implementing policy objectives within the government is obviously a conflict of industry. Nevertheless, in the United States, Industry aligning itself with government entities purchasing goods or services from them in this way is nothing new. According to Transparency International, the arrival of Trump was broadly seen as an indicator that business and government would work in lockstep for nefarious ends. Per their annual report “the U.S. last year dropped to 28th from 24th in the Corruption Perceptions Index ranking of 180 countries, lagging France, Taiwan and Barbados”.
Working as a paid consultant, Venturella has toured the country promoting private prisons. These would supplant state managed facilities where some semblance of public oversight was more realistic. Currently, ICE facilities are not available for speedy inspections, but prisoner testimony reveals deplorable conditions.
Revolving Door – Industry & Government
There’s a clear pattern of ICE officials transitioning to employment with GEO Group, creating a profitable revolving door:
Recent High-Profile Moves:
Daniel Bible, ICE’s top career official overseeing immigrant detention, left just before the 2024 election to become executive vice president at GEO Group Private Prison Giant Hired ICE Detention Chief. GEO Group paid $1,025 for Bible to travel and have lunch for an “employment discussion” Private Prison Giant Hired ICE Detention Chief.
Daniel Ragsdale, ICE’s deputy director who temporarily headed the agency, also joined GEO Group in 2017 ICE Boss to Take Private Prison Gig. Other former ICE officials at GEO include executives David Venturella and Mary Loiselle ICE Boss to Take Private Prison Gig.
Financial Stakes:
In 2022, GEO Group made $1.05 billion in revenue from ICE contracts alone – 43.9% of its total revenue Unchecked Growth: Private Prison Corporations and Immigration Detention, Three Years Into the Biden Administration | American Civil Liberties Union. Weeks after Bible joined, GEO announced a $70 million investment to expand its ICE capacity Private Prison Giant Hired ICE Detention Chief.
The Profit Model:
Nearly 90% of ICE detainees are held in for-profit facilities Private prisons and local jails are ramping up as ICE detention exceeds capacity, with GEO paying detainees $1 per day for work that would otherwise require 85 full-time employees at one facility GEO Group Is Fighting to Pay ICE Detainees as Little as $1 a Day to Work — ProPublica. Critics argue this creates financial incentives to maintain high detention numbers while minimizing costs through cheap labor and substandard conditions.
The gamification of immigration enforcement is clear and will likely promote more of these industry executives joining government to provide their former employers with an inside track and influence to maintain policies in a manner that expands their bottom line. Terrible news for the people who have to pay and victimized by these policies.
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Officials return to government after receiving posh jobs at the firms they once contracted when they first started working at ICE.