Trump's Border Czar Earned Thousands from Private Detention Center Company

Strategic Insights -

Tom Homan, the White House official in charge of deportations and detention, earned more than $5,000 in fees from a company that operates the majority of the nation's immigrant detention facilities before joining the Trump administration. Homan's disclosure was made in a federal ethics filing and raises questions about whether his private-sector work is influencing the administration's push to round up and deport immigrants.

Key Takeaways:

  • Tom Homan, the White House border czar, earned more than $5,000 in fees from Geo Group, a private detention center company, before joining the Trump administration.
  • Homan's work for Geo Group was a consulting arrangement, and the details of the work he performed are not disclosed in the ethics filing.
  • The Trump administration's push to round up and deport immigrants relies heavily on private detention facility operators that contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
  • Geo Group is a major private prison contractor whose largest source of revenue is contracts with ICE.
  • Homan's ethics statement was released by the Department of Homeland Security, stating his position as "Border Czar, Department of Homeland Security," despite his claim that he would report directly to the president.
  • Homan's recent income from Geo Group raises questions about whether his private-sector work is influencing the administration's immigration agenda.
  • The Trump administration has championed a dramatic expansion of the nation's immigrant detention system, which is expected to benefit Geo Group and its main competitor, CoreCivic.
  • The two companies have said they hope to reopen at least 16 idle facilities as immigrant detention centers.
  • Geo Group's chief executive, David Donahue, has stated that the contracts with ICE are just the beginning of an "unprecedented opportunity" to expand the business.

Statistics:

  • $5,000: The amount earned by Tom Homan for his consulting work with Geo Group during the two years preceding his government appointment in January.
  • 25 percent: The percentage of Geo Group's annual revenue that comes from Geo Care, a division of the company that includes rehabilitation services for people in detention facilities and electronic monitoring of people who have been released.
  • 41,500: The number of beds allowed for in ICE's detention budget.
  • 100,000: The number of beds that Homan says are needed to accommodate the large numbers of undocumented immigrants that the administration plans to deport.
  • 59 billion: The amount of funding for immigration detention and transportation included in a recent tax and spending package approved by House Republicans over five years.
  • 90 percent: The amount that Geo Group's stock has surged since election night.
  • $130 million: The combined annual revenue that Geo Group says it will generate from contracts to reopen facilities in New Jersey and Michigan.

Sources:

  • The Washington Post
  • Sen. Dick Durbin (Illinois)
  • Richard Painter, chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration
  • Jason Houser, former ICE chief of staff
  • Jesse Franzblau, associate director of policy for the National Immigrant Justice Center
  • Attorney General Pam Bondi
  • Marianne LeVine, contributor to the report