Deportation Oligarchs & Trump: An 11,050% Return on Investment

The Washington Post reported internal ICE plans to ramp up contract awards as the new spending kicks in: “GEO Group, ICE’s largest contractor and a company with close ties to the Trump administration, is in line to receive at least nine new or modified detention contracts with a total estimated value of over $500 million a year.” GEO Group earlier this year stated its 2025 year-to-date estimated revenue was already up $240 million, owing to increased take up of previously awarded contracts.  

The Washington Post also reported: “CoreCivic, the other largest private prison operator, would receive at least 12 contracts worth more than $500 million a year under the ICE plan — also roughly doubling that company’s annual revenue from ICE.” [4]

But, given the scale of the funding increases in the BBB for expulsion operations, these contracts are just the first trickle in the flood of tax dollars flowing toward the deportation industry. The budget bill earmarks an additional $30 billion over four years for ICE’s enforcement and removal operations which prior to the increases were budgeted at $4.5 billion. [5] This boost will quintuple ICE custody and detention spending, which stood at $3.27 billion in FY 2025, and increase its transportation and removal budget six-fold from the current level of $648 million. [6]

In FY 2025, ICE spent $1.2 billion on private prison contractors, with $500 million going to GEO Group and $200 million to CoreCivic. [7] It spent $500 million on private transportation including air charter services, all but $480 million going to CSI Aviation.