Trump’s New Deportation Plot ‘Looks Like Human Trafficking’
A new draft contract for the administration’s self-deportation scheme has been branded “gross and un-American.”
Photo Illustration by Eric Faison/The Daily Beast/Getty
The Trump administration is looking to pay up to $2.3 billion for a follow-on to its scandal-hit self-deportation scheme that will include payouts for unaccompanied migrant kids who “choose” to remove themselves. The original $915 million award went to Salus Worldwide Solutions in May 2025, a company barely two years old with no prior work as a lead federal contractor that has since faced corruption allegations over how it won the contract. The new deal contains no provisions for protecting the children it intends to target, and states their payouts will go only to “Government-designated adult recipients.” Rekha Sharma-Crawford, an award-winning immigration attorney, told PunchUp, the Daily Beast’s sister Substack, that the arrangement “looks and feels a lot like human trafficking.” Rep. Bennie Thompson, ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, called the focus on minors “gross and un-American.” The new contract also contains provisions for crews to enroll migrants already detained at 35 facilities, with mobile “rover” units roaming across the country on request. A DHS spokesperson said it would be “inappropriate to comment” until the award process ends. Salus did not respond to requests for comment.
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.
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