Ethics Watchdog Raises Flags Around Border Czar's Ties to Private Detention Giant

Ethics experts and immigrant rights advocates are raising concerns over newly disclosed financial ties between Tom Homan, Trump's "border czar," and GEO Group, a major private prison company poised to benefit from the administration's push to expand immigrant detention.

According to a federal ethics disclosure obtained by The Washington Post, Homan received more than $5,000 in consulting fees from GEO Care, a division of GEO Group, in the two years prior to joining the Trump administration in January.

While the document does not specify the nature of his work or the exact compensation, it underscores a potential conflict of interest as Homan now plays a leading role in an effort that could direct substantial government contracts to his former client.

"This news raises even more questions, and the corruption concerns are too large to ignore," said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the Senate Judiciary Committee's top Democrat who has previously raised ethics concerns about the administration's ties to the company.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson stated to The Post that Homan "abides by the highest ethical standards" and had previously committed to recusing himself from any decisions involving future government contracts with GEO.

GEO and its main competitor, CoreCivic, operate most of the country's ICE detention facilities and stand to gain significantly from the Trump administration's plan to increase detention capacity from around 41,500 beds to at least 100,000. Contracts already awarded to GEO this year for reopening facilities in New Jersey and Michigan are projected to generate $130 million in annual revenue, as another report published this weekedd by The Washington Post reveals.

ICE recently announced the reopening of Delaney Hall in Newark, a GEO facility with a 1,000-bed capacity, as part of a broader expansion. GEO's executive chairman, George Zoley, called the pace of contract awards "unprecedented," and said the company expects all seven of its idle facilities to be operational by year's end.

The reopening took placer despite a pending lawsuit from the City of Newark filed in early April which argues that GEO Group failed to obtain proper permits, citing up to two dozen safety issues involving plumbing, fire code compliance, and electrical systems

Former ICE officials and watchdogs note a revolving door between ICE leadership and the private detention industry. "There is no profit in deportations, only in detention," said Jason Houser, ICE chief of staff from 2021 to 2023, to The Post. "And that's where the revolving door allows for individuals to cash in."

As Congress continues to consider legislation that would significantly increase ICE's detention budget, critics warn the combination of increased funding, expanding contracts, and former officials returning to government with industry ties represents a troubling dynamic in immigration enforcement policymaking. As Jesse Franzblau, associate director of policy for the National Immigrant Justice Center, put it:

"The connections of top-level officials to the companies directly profiting from ICE detention expansion is illustrative of the perverse influence the private prison industry has over how our taxpayer dollars are spent"