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One of the top architects of Donald Trump’s immigration agenda previously received thousands of dollars from a company raking in millions from deportations.
But the White House says that there's nothing wrong with this situation.
What's more, border czar Tom Homan is just the most recent official in his administration who we have learned was paid by the private prison company Geo Group in the past. According to federal disclosure forms, Attorney General Pam Bondi previously earned money as a lobbyist for the company in Trump's first term.
The Washington Post was the first to publish disclosure forms filed last week showing Homan earned at least $5,000 as a consultant for Geo Group over the two years before he joined Trump’s second administration.
Before he joined the administration, border czar Tom Homan earned an undisclosed amount in fees consulting for a division of the Geo Group, one of two companies that operates the vast majority of the nation’s immigrant detention facilities, according to the disclosure, which was released last week. The filing, which has not been previously reported, did not specify what work Homan performed. The document said Geo paid him more than $5,000 during the two years preceding his government appointment in January. Ethics rules do not require any more specific disclosure, and the amount Homan received could be far higher.
Geo Group also gave $1 million dollars to the Make America Great Again PAC which backed Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. Last year, after Trump was elected, the company’s CEO, Brian Evans, estimated that Geo Group could make an additional $400 million annually as a result of Trump’s planned deportations. And indeed, the company is one of multiple private prison companies making a profit from locking up immigrants for the administration. So much so, that on a conference call earlier this year, the company’s executive chairman said “we’ve never seen anything like this before” while referencing the speed with which the Trump administration has sought to procure contracts with Geo Group.
So the order of events is as follows: Tom Homan and Pam Bondi consult and lobby for Geo Group, Geo Group helps elect Trump in 2024, Homan and Bondi join Trump's administration in 2025, and then Trump’s administration helps Geo Group make profits. At a minimum, that raises questions about a conflict of interest.
But the White House says there’s nothing to see here.
In a written statement to MSNBC, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson claimed Homan “has always abided by the highest ethical standards and operated with integrity,” and she referred to a 2024 Rolling Stone article in which Homan vowed to recuse himself “from any involvement, discussion, input, or decision of any future government contracts that may be awarded by the government.”
After the Post article went online, ICE issued a statement, saying, ‘Tom Homan has never been involved in any contract discussions or decisions at ICE since being named border czar.’”
Still, given the conflicts of interest that administration officials already face, it's hard to give them the benefit of the doubt.