A Donald Trump official who promoted birther lies has been made the public face of the Department of Homeland Security’s multibillion-dollar attempt to rebuild its flailing self-deportation program.
Frank Wuco, a senior adviser to the DHS undersecretary for management, Brian Cavanaugh, opened an August 12 briefing for companies seeking to replace the contractor behind Project Homecoming. The self-proclaimed “cornerstone” of President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation drive offers migrants cash and free flights to leave the U.S.
In May 2025, DHS awarded the existing $915 million contract to Salus Worldwide Solutions—a company founded and led by Trump crony and former State Department surgeon William Walters III—despite its having existed for only two years and never having led a government contract. PunchUp reported that DHS had been forced to add a $200 million six-month extension after Salus burned through its money in a year. Departmental insiders have told the Daily Beast’s sister investigations Substack that Salus is “unlikely” to win the $2.34 billion recompetition.
Now PunchUp’s revelation of Wuco’s role in finding its replacement—having been labeled by New York Magazine one of “Trump’s Greatest Worst Hits” of his early first-term appointments—has added another bizarre twist to the ongoing saga.
After the retired Navy lieutenant commander and former conservative radio host joined Trump’s first administration as a White House adviser to DHS in 2017, a CNN KFile investigation found Wuco had questioned Barack Obama’s birthplace, derided LGBT people, and warned about what he called the “Zimbabwe-fication of America.”
Wuco suggested that Obama’s memoir had been written by former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers. He also wrongly claimed that former CIA Director John Brennan had converted to Islam and that former Attorney General Eric Holder had belonged to the Black Panthers.
Wuco also had an extreme answer to terrorism, and said during a 2016 radio appearance that, after the 9/11 attacks, America should have dropped “a couple of low-yield tactical nuclear weapons” on Afghanistan. He also invented the persona of a fictional former jihadist, which he used to give presentations about Islamist extremism.
DHS defended him at the time. Its then-acting press secretary, Tyler Houlton, dismissed the coverage as “years-old comments cherry picked from thousands of hours” of broadcasts.
Almost a decade later, Wuco is now representing DHS in yet another vast and hurried procurement, according to documents published alongside the contract opportunity and reviewed by PunchUp that highlight the compressed schedule.
DHS issued its final request for proposals on August 19, with companies given until August 21 to submit questions and until Sept. 2 to lodge their bids. The department intends to choose a winner by Sept. 29.
When one potential bidder complained that its draft performance document, at just seven pages long, appeared thin on detail, DHS replied that the document was “intentionally written in a broad manner.”
The short timetable echoes the contest that handed Salus the original contract under then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, 54. That bidding window lasted just two business days, with CSI Aviation challenging the award as “unlawful, rushed, and noncompetitive” and DHS’s own lawyers saying the process had created an “appearance of impropriety.”
The Court of Federal Claims rejected CSI’s challenge in May, with Trump-appointed Chief Judge Matthew Solomson expressing concerns but staying bis review had uncovered no evidence of bad faith or unfair dealing.
The winner will take over the existing caseload and may place workers inside as many as 35 ICE detention centers, where half of the program’s “voluntary” deportations were initiated, as PunchUp reported earlier this month. The winner will be expected to persuade detainees to sign up to leave the country.
The DHS briefing also confirmed that the government will provide aircraft for charter operations. Prior to now, more than 99 percent of Project Homecoming journeys have used regular commercial flights, officials said.
Salus initially forecast 276,000 relocations during the contract’s first year. That projection was later reduced to 108,000. Company records listed 76,881 completed relocations by March 25, 2026. It claims 138,000 people have “chosen to take the Assisted Voluntary Departure pathway,” but has repeatedly declined to define what that means.
DHS gave Salus its $200 million extension in May before starting the replacement procurement in June. Rep. Bennie Thompson, 78, the most senior Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, has, citing PunchUp’s reporting, demanded answers and urged DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, 49, to cancel the “wasteful and corrupt” Project Homecoming contract.
DHS again defended Wuco, who a spokesperson noted had “served the United States government for more than four decades.” The spokesperson told PunchUp: “Prior statements made in a private capacity and unrelated to his current DHS responsibilities have no bearing on his ability to perform his duties at the Department. All personnel supporting DHS procurement efforts are expected to carry out their responsibilities consistent with the highest ethical, legal, and professional standards.”
Of the recompetition, the spokesperson said that the process would “not provide an advantage or disadvantage to any offeror. DHS will evaluate proposals based on the criteria set forth in the solicitation, and any award decision will be made in accordance with those criteria and all applicable acquisition statutes and regulations.” Any contractor selected would, they added, be “required to perform in accordance with the terms of the contract, applicable law, and Department oversight.”
Tom Latchem exposes the secrets, scandals, and stories that powerful people and institutions want to keep under wraps. Follow all of his reporting at PunchUp on Substack.
