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EXCERPT:
Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, wants DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to cancel a nearly billion dollar contract awarded last year to a company called Salus Worldwide to carry out a Trump administration program to encourage undocumented immigrants to self-deport.
But Salus, in an unusually aggressive move, is hitting back, arguing that criticism of its contract is being drummed up by larger DHS contractors that it accuses of undermining the Trump administration’s voluntary deportation efforts to pad their own profits.
DHS in May 2025 gave Salus a contract worth up to $915 million to help administer what the administration calls “Project Homecoming,” by providing free plane tickets and $1,000 payments to immigrants who sign agreements to give up legal challenges to deportation and leave the country voluntarily.
The award drew a lawsuit from CSI Aviation, a major ICE contractor, alleging that the contract was “unlawful, rushed, and noncompetitive.” It also drew scrutiny from inside DHS. One department official said the procurement was flawed and “created an appearance of favoritism toward Salus,” as Mother Jones and POGO Investigates reported.
In a letter sent Friday to Mullin, Thompson called it “incomprehensible” that DHS this May okayed a six-month extension of Salus’ contract. “You must take immediate action to stop this wasteful and corrupt spending,” the Mississippi Democrat wrote.