The mass deportation campaign of the government of US President Donald Trump raised spending on private companies that work in the expulsion system, a report by the Wall Street Journal published on Tuesday.
According to the American newspaper, the White House has spent more than $ 13 billion ($ 73.4 billion) on such contracts in the last decade, and the expectation is that they will grow amid the advancement of the Republican offensive against immigrants.
The story of Venezuelan Andry Blanco Bonilla, 40, accompanied by Journal, illustrates the billionaire chain behind the immigrant hunting. After more than a year being transferred between detention of the complex American immigration system ,. Its trajectory shows how companies profit in virtually every step of the process – from detention to removal – and now they expect even more.
The detention
Blanco’s removal process began in February 2024, when an agent of the customs immigration and control service (ICE) suspected his tattoos during a routine check in Dallas and accused him of gang involvement.
Without criminal record, Blanco was taken to the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas, operated by Lasalle Corrections. The US government pays about $ 17 million per year to maintain the unit.
The following week, he was transferred to the Bluebonnet Detention Center, also in Texas, managed by Management and Training Corp. The private company operates five units in the country and has received more than US $ 240 million (R $ 1.3 billion) in contracts since 2014, according to federal data. The daily cost per detainee ranges from $ 48 ($ 271) and $ 106 ($ 598), and the center’s capacity is 1,062 people.
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During the stay, Blanco received three meals a day, provided by companies such as B&Man International and My Own Meals. In food alone, the government has spent more than $ 4 million in recent years. Hygiene and medical care products are also included: companies such as Arora Group and Amergis Healthcare Staffing have received more than $ 24 million since January to provide medical care at detention centers.
Blanco called his mother, Carmen Bonilla, three times a week. In May 2024, after two months detained, he attended a remote hearing with a judge from El Paso and received a deportation order. He was released in July, as Venezuela was not accepting deportations and there was a legal limit to the detention time.
Return and deportation
He resumed life in Dallas until February 2025, when he was called again to Ice and detained. He told his mother that he had been sent to Oklahoma, but the state’s main detention center had no record of him. With about 100 detention units in the country, operated by seven large companies or local governments, tracking the location of detainees is a challenge for lawyers and family members.
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Weeks later, Blanco was taken to the detention center in El Valle, Texas. According to lawyers heard by Journal, the practice of often transferring migrants has been intensifying under the Trump government.
On March 15, Blanco and another 260 migrants were deported to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador. Accused of involvement with the gang Tren de Aragua, classified as a terrorist organization at the beginning of this second term, were arrested without the legal process. At the time, the deportations occurred within a few hours when the 1798 foreign enemy law – previously invoked only in periods of war – was in force before being suspended by a federal judge.
According to the Journal, the US is paying $ 6 million a year to the Salvadoran government for the arrest of these men.
