News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Aug. 22, 2025: When an Avelo Airlines jet lifted off from Mesa, Arizona this spring, it wasn’t bound for a vacation hotspot. It was flying detainees under a new deportation deal with the Department of Homeland Security, (DHS) – a contract Avelo entered as a sub-carrier for CSI Aviation, the private broker at the center of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation flight network.
That flight is one piece of a sprawling, taxpayer-funded machine where airlines, prison companies, tech firms, and logistics outfits make billions detaining, moving, and tracking immigrants. And with Congress’ “One Big Beautiful Bill” pumping roughly $165 billion into DHS over four years, the corporate winners are lining up.
Deportation Flights: CSI, Avelo, and GlobalX
DHS’ air operations rely on CSI Aviation, which has long provided private charters, medical flights, and federal air services. The current no-bid contract to CSI is worth at least $78.1 million over six months, with the potential to climb to $162.2 million, according to USAspending.gov. The agreement’s stated purpose: “Provide daily scheduled large aircraft & special high-risk charter flights to facilitate ICE’s enforcement and removal of operations of illegal aliens.”
CSI Aviation CEO Allen Weh, his daughter, and his wife have been major campaign contributors to the current president.
Avelo now flies some of those missions – an unprecedented role for a consumer airline. Another sub-carrier, GlobalX, handles about 70% of DHS flights, according to Tom Cartwright of Witness at the Border. His logs show that as of July, total deportation flights reached 1,214, up from 1,187 in June – a new record. GlobalX announced a five-year contract in August 2024 worth $65 million per year.
These flights operate daily, often far from public view.
The Detention Heavyweights
Then there are the corporations raking in massive profits from running private immigration prisons.
GEO Group: In February, ICE awarded GEO a $1 billion, 15-year contract to reopen the 1,000-bed Delaney Hall in Newark, NJ. The company reported $636.2 million in second-quarter revenue this year as ICE bed use jumped from 15,000 to 20,000.
CoreCivic: Restarted the 2,400-bed South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley under a new ICE agreement, which could yield $180 million annually at full capacity. It also won approval to reopen a shuttered prison in Mason, Tennessee as an ICE site, with a new contract worth $30–$35 million annually for its 600-bed facility. This deal runs through August 2030, with extension options.
Acquisition Logistics LLC: Awarded a U.S. Army contract on July 18 to establish and operate a 5,000-bed short-term detention facility in El Paso, Texas. Initially reported at $231.8 million, the Department of Defense later confirmed the cumulative value at $1.24 billion.
Akima Infrastructure Protection: Holds a $163.4 million contract through 2029 to operate DHS’ migrant detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. The Virginia-based company has over 40 subsidiaries and more than 2,000 U.S. government contracts.
The Digital Wall
Beyond fences and flights, billions more go to surveillance and biometrics. The new law steers $6 billion+ into border surveillance and $673 million into biometrics.
Palantir: Building ImmigrationOS, a cross-agency data hub for ICE, under a $30 million contract to provide “near real-time visibility” on self-deportations.
Anduril Industries: Awarded $41.86 million by DHS Customs and Border Protection for autonomous surveillance towers under the SBIR program.
LexisNexis: Powering facial recognition and data pipelines; one ICE deal is worth $22 million.
Public Money, Private Profit
These contracts are paid from public funds – yours. The Newark GEO deal locks taxpayers into 15 years of private detention costs. Fort Bliss will be the largest ICE facility in U.S. history, built by a little-known contractor with minimal detention experience.
For corporations, it’s a growth market. For the public, it’s a question of priorities. Should billions in taxpayer dollars underwrite an expanding web of detention centers, deportation flights, and surveillance systems – especially in an immigration system plagued by due-process concerns and human-rights complaints?
When you file your taxes, remember: some of your dollars aren’t paving roads or funding education, health care, or essential services – they’re fueling a billion-dollar deportation business.
Felicia J. Persaud is the founder and publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com, the only daily newswire and digital platform dedicated exclusively to Caribbean Diaspora and Black immigrant news across the Americas.