Venturella returns to government with GEO Group ethics waiver, becomes acting ICE director as GEO wins $520 million in new contracts

Damon Venturella — who had left ICE in 2012 to become an executive at The GEO Group — returned to government service in 2026, receiving an ethics waiver covering his GEO Group employment before being named acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 1, 2026. The White House issued the waiver under Executive Order 13770's national-interest exception, eliminating the standard two-year cooling-off period. During the preceding months, GEO Group had been awarded more than $520 million in new ICE detention contracts.