The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that David Venturella will lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Venturella is known not just as a career ICE agent and former executive at the GEO Group, the private prison company that owns some of the ICE detention facilities, as reported by the New York Times. He also intervened to deport the mother of the child of Paolo Zampolli — the man who introduced Donald Trump to Melania — after she was detained in a Miami jail, calling ICE’s Miami office to have her grabbed before she could be released on bail.
According to the New York Times, Venturella emphasized during the call that it was “a favor for a friend of the president.” Zampolli has denied the reporting.
Zampolli, who had been locked in a custody dispute with the woman, Amanda Ungaro, contacted Venturella after learning she had been arrested in Miami on charges of fraud. Ungaro was subsequently held in ICE detention for 3 1/2 months before being deported to Brazil. Zampolli denies using immigration enforcement to gain an advantage in the custody battle.
According to the Times, Venturella is said to “prefer quieter operations than the volatile ones.”
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