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... Since returning to the White House in 2025, President Donald Trump has ramped up immigration detention, with private contractors operating much of the required infrastructure " and reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts after making significant contributions to the president's political operations.

Federal contracting data shows that a small group of private prison operators, charter airlines and security contractors dominated ICE's largest contracts in 2025. Two private prison companies, the GEO Group and CoreCivic received $2.1 billion and $653.5 million in total obligations, respectively, while charter aviation companies including CSI Aviation ($1.1 billion) and Classic Air Charter ($800.2 million) also secured major contracts. Transportation contractor MVM Inc., which moves unaccompanied migrant children and families to detention facilities, received $1.1 billion.

Several of those companies and their executives have contributed to committees affiliated with Trump, according to Federal Election Commission and OpenSecrets data.

- - - The GEO Group PAC, the company's employee-funded political action committee, contributed $1 million to a pro-Trump super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., in 2024.

- - - GEO Group and CoreCivic each donated $500,000 to Trump's 2025 inaugural committee.

- - - GEO Group founder George Zoley and CEO Brian Evans each contributed $11,600 to Trump's joint fundraising committee, the Save America PAC.

- - - Allen Weh, CEO of CSI Aviation, contributed a total of $20,700 to Trump's campaign committee in the 2016, 2018, and 2024 election cycles.

In the first five months of fiscal 2026, CSI Aviation and GEO Group continue to dominate ICE contracting, each holding more than $1 billion in total obligated contracts.

Frank Baumgartner, a political scientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said many Americans are unaware of how much the agency spends on immigration enforcement " and how costly that system has become for taxpayers. ...