One of the country’s largest operators of private immigration detention facilities has made significant contributions to several Texas members of Congress. The GEO Group’s PAC and executives have given $32,900 to Houston Republican Rep. John Culberson’s campaign this election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission documents and OpenSecrets.org. GEO is Culberson's largest donor.
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The Billion-Dollar Business of Operating Shelters for Migrant Children
The business of housing, transporting and watching over migrant children detained along the southwest border is not a multimillion-dollar business. It’s a billion-dollar one. The nonprofit Southwest Key Programs has won at least $955 million in federal contracts since 2015 to run shelters and provide other services to immigrant children in federal custody.
Some Contractors Housing Migrant Children Are Familiar to Trump’s Inner Circle
Many of the nonprofits, corporations and religious groups watching over migrant children detained at the southwest border have been in this business for years — and they have a history of political connections, donating millions of dollars to Democrats and Republicans alike. Now, as new federal policies greatly expand the number of migrants held in detention, it is also becoming clear that some of the players in this billion-dollar industry have particularly strong ties to the Trump administration.
Before Trump, Israel Put Palestinian Children In Cages
Immigrant children have been mistreated and abused for years in the United States. But so have Palestinian youth, who Israeli officials caged outside in the cold. In light of recent news, this practice is now being compared to how President Donald Trump’s administration is treating minors separated from their parents at the border.
Bethany Christian Services providing foster homes for 81 children due to border crisis
81 immigrant children forcibly separated from their parents have been sent to a conservative Christian adoption agency tied to the Betsy DeVos family. Betsy DeVos donated $300,000 to the group and her husband's cousin Brian DeVos was a Vice President. Most of children have had no contact with their parents. How is this legal??
Detention of Migrant Children Has Skyrocketed to Highest Levels Ever
Even though hundreds of children separated from their families after
crossing the border have been released under court order, the overall
number of detained migrant children has exploded to the highest ever
recorded — a significant counternarrative to the Trump administration’s
efforts to reduce the number of undocumented families coming to the
United States.