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Rep. Jayapal decries ICE links with private prisons
“There is a constantly-revolving door between ICE and the private, for-profit prison industry,” Jayapal said.
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Malvika Choudhary - Thu, 21, Aug 2025
- 17:09 EDT
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Pramila Jayapal / X (Pramila Jayapal)
Indian American congresswoman Pramila Jayapal condemned the close ties between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and private, for-profit prison companies, highlighting recent expansions in detention capacity and longstanding ethical concerns.
“There is a constantly-revolving door between ICE and the private, for-profit prison industry — and it’s part of what makes our immigration system so corrupt,” Jayapal wrote in a post on X.
Also Read: US revokes thousands of visas under enhanced vetting measures
In a video statement, Jayapal cited the example of David Venturella, who began as a deportation officer with the Immigration and Naturalization Service and later led enforcement and removal operations at ICE. In 2012, he joined the private prison operator GEO Group as executive vice president.
There is a constantly-revolving door between ICE and the private, for-profit prison industry — and it’s part of what makes our immigration system so corrupt.
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) August 20, 2025
Let’s break down how it works, who’s involved, and what we can do to fix it: pic.twitter.com/dYX2rS4GWV
At GEO, Venturella lobbied the federal government to reimburse the company’s legal costs in a lawsuit alleging that immigrants were forced to work for little or no pay. In 2023, he returned to ICE as a senior advisor.
“This revolving door is deeply problematic,” Jayapal said. “ICE is awarding billions in taxpayer dollars to for-profit prison companies that have a documented record of cutting corners. These revolving doors encourage ICE officials to form close relationships with the corporations they’re supposed to oversee.”
She added, “Instead of conducting real oversight, they turn a blind eye to abuses, fail to impose penalties, and then renew and increase contracts—all so they can cash in on lucrative jobs when they leave government.”
Jayapal noted that Venturella is not alone. She named several other former ICE officials—David Bible, Matt Abentz, Henry Lucero, Don Ragsdale, and Julie Myers Wood—who later took positions with GEO Group.
“It’s blatant corruption, plain and simple,” she said, adding that the practice has flourished under both Democratic and Republican administrations.
Legislative push
The congresswoman, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, pointed to two bills she has introduced. The Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act, co-authored with Senator Elizabeth Warren, would impose multi-year bans on lobbying after federal service and bar companies from hiring officials they recently lobbied.
The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act would phase out private, for-profit immigration detention by requiring all facilities to be government-owned and operated.
“We cannot entrust the health and safety of these individuals to private for-profit companies that are only motivated by their own profits,” Jayapal said. “Congress must take action to make the immigration system more humane and more fair.”
Jayapal’s comments come as ICE is preparing to dramatically expand detention. Internal planning documents obtained by The Washington Post show the agency intends to nearly double its detention capacity by 2025 – from about 50,000 to more than 107,000 detainees. The plan covers 125 facilities, backed by a $45 billion budget, with GEO Group and CoreCivic expected to secure major contracts worth over $1 billion annually.
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