Private prison and mental-health facility operator
David Venturella has been named Acting ICE Director to replace Todd Lyons as Lyons departs at the end of May. Venturella previously led ICE detention contracts and has ties to the GEO Group; confirmation remains pending amid ongoing DHS management changes.
Protests outside Delaney Hall in Newark have intensified as detainees report hunger strikes and poor conditions. Officials deny hunger strikes and access, while lawmakers visit and clashes with police persist. The facility, run by GEO Group, faces ongoing scrutiny amid calls for closure.
Multiple recent reports have revealed unsafe conditions across U.S. immigration detention sites and a rising death rate since January 2025. Federal watchdog and medical examiner findings have shown missing evidence, inadequate medical care, suicides and a homicide ruling after a Haitian asylum seeker died days after release. Protests and hunger strikes are escalating at privately run centres.
New Jersey officials have renewed access to the Delaney Hall detention center amid protests and legal action. Detainees’ families are visiting under constrained conditions as demonstrations continue outside the facility.
Yerlys Moreno López says ICE agents tackled her, injuring her knee during a May 19 detention in Detroit; doctors say she sustained fractures and head trauma. Her lawyers seek release over alleged medical neglect at North Lake detention. The story spans Michigan facilities and related detainee medical complaints amid ongoing scrutiny of ICE practices.
A GEO Group employee has been arrested after firing a single shot toward two protesters near the Aurora ICE Processing Center in Colorado. One protester was wounded; police say the weapon was the employee’s personal pistol. GEO Group says the worker is on unpaid leave and will cooperate with authorities. Investigators are reviewing the incident amid ongoing demonstrations outside the facility.