How Private Prisons and Defense Contractors Turn Deportation into Big Business
This article uncovers how billions in taxpayer dollars flow to private corporations to fund ICE’s detention, surveillance, and deportation operations.
THE SITUATION
This week, we’re building on last month’s publication: ICE Contracts Explained: The Companies Enabling Mass Deportations. As the current administration continues to push legal boundaries—from exploring Guantanamo as a detention center for immigrants to increasing arrests of noncitizens without prior convictions—it’s critical to remember that deportations rely on private-sector collaboration.
And at the end of the day, taxpayers foot the bill for these massive contracts.
As The New York Times reported this week, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative led by Elon Musk, claims to be slashing billions in government contracts. Yet, it has barely touched agencies with the largest spending on contracts. The Department of Homeland Security—the agency that oversees ICE—is one of the top five government agencies in contract spending, yet represents less than 1% of DOGE’s cuts.
So today, we’re unpacking just how much U.S. taxpayers are paying corporations to help deport immigrants. This analysis dives into vendor relationships between ICE and its five largest publicly traded partners:
The GEO Group (GEO)
CoreCivic (CXW)
General Dynamics (GD)
CACI International (CACI)
Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH)
OUR ANALYSIS
Publicly traded companies make up less than 18% of vendors working directly with ICE. However, because they are publicly owned, they must disclose revenue streams and business risks—making them a great starting point for understanding how ICE spends taxpayer dollars. According to FreeCap’s research, 37% of ICE’s total vendor spending goes to publicly traded companies, with The GEO Group as the largest recipient.
The GEO Group (GEO)
ICE Revenue (2019–2023): $10.3 billion
Services: Immigrant detention centers, surveillance
Headquarters: Boca Raton, FL
The GEO Group is ICE’s largest corporate partner in terms of contract size. The private prison company provides immigrant detention facilities, prisons, and alternative case management services. One key subsidiary, BI Inc., holds a $2.2 billion contract with ICE for “alternatives to detention,” using ankle monitors and mobile apps to track immigrants facing deportation proceedings. The GEO Group has also benefited from a revolving door between ICE and its corporate leadership, with former ICE officials regularly taking senior roles at the company.
🚨 In 2023, ICE contracts made up 43% of GEO Group’s total revenue.
📖 Read GEO Group’s 2023 annual report here.
CoreCivic (CXW)
ICE Revenue (2019–2023): $2.1 billion
Services: Immigrant detention centers
Headquarters: Nashville, TN
CoreCivic, formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), owns and operates prisons and immigration detention centers. Its facilities have faced allegations of forced labor, negligence, and abuse, with detainees working for as little as $1 per day. As of 2024, CoreCivic owns or manages 16 immigration detention centers, which incarcerate over 15,000 people. Through its subsidiary TransCor America, CoreCivic also profits from detainee transportation services.
🚨 ICE contracts accounted for 30% of CoreCivic’s revenue in 2023.
📖 For more details, read this deep-dive investigation by Investigate.
General Dynamics (GD)
ICE Revenue (2019–2023): $1.04 billion
Services: Biometric technology, surveillance
Headquarters: Reston, VA
General Dynamics is a defense contractor with long-standing ties to DHS and ICE, particularly in biometric surveillance. The company developed IDENT, a biometric tracking system used to identify and monitor immigrants. In 2023, General Dynamics secured a $386 million contract as the sole bidder to maintain DHS’s Office of Biometric Identity Management, a program central to ICE’s monitoring efforts.
🚨 72% of General Dynamics’ total revenue comes from U.S. government contracts, though most are tied to defense rather than ICE.
CACI International (CACI)
ICE Revenue (2019–2023): $764 million
Services: Communications infrastructure
Headquarters: Arlington, VA
CACI International is a technology contractor supporting ICE’s IT and surveillance infrastructure. In 2021, it received a $138 million contract to provide engineering and maintenance support for ICE’s Tactical Communications (TACCOM) systems.
Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH)
ICE Revenue (2019–2023): $756 million
Services: Surveillance
Headquarters: McLean, VA
Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) has helped ICE expand its AI-powered surveillance technology. In 2018, BAH won a $68 million contract to develop RAVEn, an AI surveillance system that mines social media and biometric data to track immigrants. From 2018 to 2021, BAH held a $144 million contract to develop the Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART) system, the successor to General Dynamics' IDENT.
📖 For more on Booz Allen Hamilton’s role in immigration surveillance, read this Investigate report.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
🔴 Deportations rely on extensive private sector collaboration.
From surveillance to detention, mass deportations require taxpayer dollars to fund private corporations—and these companies stand to gain if deportation policies expand.
🔴 Government contracts are concentrated in a few key players.
GEO Group and CoreCivic, the two largest private prison companies, derive 43% and 30% of their revenue from ICE contracts. General Dynamics and Booz Allen Hamilton are among the top 10 largest government contractors across all agencies.
🔴 The Washington, D.C. metro area is a hub for ICE contractors.
Many ICE contractors, including CACI, Booz Allen Hamilton, and General Dynamics, are headquartered in Virginia and the greater D.C. region. The proximity makes it easier for former ICE officials to transition into leadership roles at these companies, further entrenching the public-private partnership.
🔴 DOGE is ignoring the biggest sources of government waste.
Despite claiming to cut government contracts, DOGE has largely overlooked agencies like DHS, focusing instead on smaller programs like USAID and Social Security, representing a tiny fraction of federal spending.
🔍 Want to learn more?
Next week, we will release our complete ICE contracts dataset to explore how taxpayer dollars fund immigration enforcement. Subscribe today so you don’t miss it!