The Donald Trump administration appointed David Venturella as new director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), at a particularly delicate moment for the agency after months of criticism for immigration operations and reports of abuse of power.

The appointment occurs after the resignation of Todd Lyons, who will officially leave the post on May 31st. Venturell will assume the leadership of an agency marked by political pressure from the White House to accelerate arrests and deportations.

However, the announcement arrives accompanied by a strong controversy. According to a report published by The New York Times, Venturella will have He had personally intervened in an immigration case to guarantee the detention and deportation of a woman linked to a close Trump ally.

According to the media, the now-future ICE director directly called agency officials in Miami to make sure agents detained the ex-wife of a political ally of the president who was involved in a custody dispute.

DHS rejects allegations of deportation for political motivations

The Department of Home Security(DHS) denied that there was political motivation in the case and said that the woman was arrested due to pending criminal charges.

“Any suggestion that she was arrested or deported for political reasons or favors is false,” DHS said in a statement.

Despite this, immigrant defense organizations and critics of Trump have questioned the closeness between senior immigration officials and political allies of the president.

Venturella is not a unknown within the immigration system. For years he worked within ICE and later moved to the private sector, collaborating with GEO Group, one of the largest private penitentiary companies in the United States.

That link has also generated criticism due to the role of private prisons in the detention of undocumented migrants.

ICE faces image crisis and political pressure

ICE is going through one of the most complex times in its history. In recent months, the agency has been singled out for massive operations in cities governed by Democrats and for violent incidents.

The pressure from the White House has also intensified. Stephen Miller, Trump's key advisor on immigration issues, has promoted a more aggressive policy of deportations and arrests.

Meanwhile, Senator Markwayne Mullin, close to the Trump administration, recently stated that he seeks to keep the Department of Homeland Security “out of the headlines.”

“My goal is for us to not be top news every day,” he declared during his confirmation hearing. However, everything seems to indicate that his desire is out of reach.