Trump Administration Names David Venturella Interim ICE Head, Replacing Todd Lyons

The Trump administration plans to name longtime immigration official David Venturella as the interim head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He will replace acting director Todd Lyons, who is leaving the agency at the end of the month. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson and two U.S. officials told CBS News.

Venturella has worked at ICE under Republican and Democratic administrations. He rejoined the agency last year after President Trump returned to the White House.

Before rejoining ICE, Venturella worked at GEO Group. That company is one of the main for-profit prison operators that run immigration detention centers across the U.S.

Venturella also worked at the now-defunct Immigration and Naturalization Service, or INS. He is considered an ally of White House border czar Tom Homan. The New York Times first reported his expected appointment earlier Tuesday.

ICE, the federal agency leading Mr. Trump's deportation crackdown, has faced growing scrutiny over the past year. Critics have accused some of its operations of being heavy-handed. ICE officers have drawn sharp criticism for wearing masks, a practice Trump administration officials have defended as protection against doxxing.

In an exclusive interview with CBS News last week, Homan said ICE has adopted a smarter immigration enforcement strategy since the controversial Minneapolis crackdown. Federal immigration agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens during that operation.

Homan said the new approach centers on targeted operations. Those efforts prioritize arresting individuals who have committed crimes in addition to being in the U.S. illegally.