More than 50 representatives and senators joined in an investigation into the contractors and real estate companies used by the Trump administration to build immigration detention facilities, the lawmakers announced on Monday.
Led by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the lawmakers launched separate investigations into the business dealings of six contractors, real estate brokers, and property owners who work with the Trump administration.
The investigation aims to determine whether the six are “corruptly profiting from the White House’s fast-tracked expansion of inhumane warehouse-based immigration detention facilities,” per a statement from the House Judiciary Democrats.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement announced its “ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative” in February, which calls for “eight large-scale detention centers and 16 processing sites, as well as the acquisition of 10 existing ‘turnkey’ facilities.” It also includes a massive detention center to be built in New Hampshire that can hold tens of thousands of detainees.
The initiative’s budget is reportedly set at $38.3 billion. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons previously described the initiative as “[Amazon] Prime, but with human beings.”
The lawmakers worry that the rush to build the facilities could “exacerbate” the same inhumane conditions at some ICE centers. “These warehouses were built to hold products, not people … Given the public’s grave concerns about this warehouse system, we request prompt answers to questions about your involvement in the system,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to CoreCivic, one of the largest for-profit prison companies in the U.S.
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“Placing thousands of people in warehouses that were never intended to house human beings will only exacerbate these problems,” the letter reads.
Also of concern to the lawmakers are the potential conflicts of interest between Trump administration officials and their past dealings with some of the prospective companies. David Venturella, a top contract adviser for ICE at the Department of Homeland Security, was previously part of the GEO Group, one of the companies working with the Trump administration, where Attorney General Pam Bondi previously worked as a lobbyist.
“The secretive and uncompetitive nature of ICE’s warehouse contracting not only risks wasting billions in taxpayer dollars but also triggers corruption concerns,” the lawmakers wrote.
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