U.S. Border Patrol’s high-profile immigration crackdowns in North Carolina and Louisiana during the last two months have introduced recent scrutiny to the lots of of billions of {dollars} being spent on immigration raids and arrests below the Trump administration.
The large spending invoice pushed by Trump and handed by Congress this summer time elevated immigration enforcement by $170 billion, a part of a broader push to achieve the administration’s objective of deporting 1 million immigrants every year.
The brand new spherical of immigration spending contains $75 billion over 4 years for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, on high of the $10 billion the company had already been allotted for 2025. The invoice additionally gave $65 billion extra to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), which had already acquired $20 billion for fiscal yr 2025.
Whereas CBP and ICE, which each function below the Division of Homeland Safety, are chargeable for immigration issues, Border Patrol has emerged because the chief in Trump’s anti-immigration campaign in latest months, in keeping with immigration reporter Nick Miroff of The Atlantic. Underneath the bombastic management of Gregory Bovino, who grew up in western North Carolina, CBP has led a sequence of high-profile and militarized operations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, and New Orleans which have sparked widespread backlash on account of their heavy-handed ways and violations of due course of.
Serving to perform Border Patrol and ICE’s immigration operations are a military of personal contractors who’ve seen their fortunes soar as federal cash has flowed into enforcement actions.
Within the wake of the foremost operations in Louisiana and North Carolina, Going through South and the Institute for Southern Research collected and analyzed knowledge from USASpending.gov on greater than 50 companies headquartered in these states who’re receiving CBP and ICE contracts for fiscal years 2025-2026. The contracts for firms based mostly in Louisiana and North Carolina complete greater than $341 million.
North Carolina
The Going through South/Institute evaluation finds 38 firms based mostly in North Carolina receiving contracts from CBP and ICE. These contracts are at present valued at $61.7 million, with a possible to develop to $77.9 million as soon as the work is accomplished.
Some of the notable contractors is Quantico Tactical, based and owned by former Marine David Hensley. Based mostly in Aberdeen, N.C., Quantico has acquired greater than 50 contracts valued as much as $19.3 million for fiscal years 2025-2026 offering a variety of firearms, “lower than deadly” munitions, restraints, communications tools, and different provides to each Border Patrol and ICE.
Different high contractors embody Laboratory Company of America (Labcorp) in Burlington, N.C., which has contracts doubtlessly valued as much as $21.4 million for laboratory providers, together with at ICE detention facilities, and TMC-TELESOLV of Battleboro, N.C., which has a contract valued as much as $14.8 million for CBP’s Trusted Traveler Program.
Duncan-Parnell, Inc., in Charlotte has a $5 million CBP contract for drones, and MacGyver Options, Inc. has contracts valued as much as $2.2 million for Polaris and Yamaha automobiles and ATVs.
In August, Hendrick Motorsports Technical Options of Harmony, N.C. was given a $1.5 million no-bid contract to produce 25 Chevrolet Tahoe automobiles to ICE. The corporate is a by-product of Hendrick Motorsports; each are owned by Rick Hendrick, a outstanding Republican donor. Media consideration in regards to the deal in the course of the North Carolina immigration raids led to calls to boycott Hendrick’s firms, which embody automobile dealerships within the state.
You’ll be able to view an entire record of CBP and ICE contracts for fiscal years 2025-2026 to firms headquartered in North Carolina within the spreadsheet under.
Louisiana
In Louisiana, the place Border Patrol’s “Operation Catahoula Crunch” is nonetheless underway, there are fewer contractors, however the complete awards to firms based mostly within the state is far bigger.
Going through South/Institute evaluation of contracting knowledge finds 16 Louisiana-based firms receiving contracts from CBP and ICE in fiscal years 2025-2026. The present worth of these awards is $50.3 million, however the complete potential worth is listed at $263.2 million for the state.
Topping the record are two firms which stand to usher in greater than $208 million making emergency detention facilities for ICE. LaSalle Corrections, which manages 18 non-public correctional amenities in Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, acquired a contract price as much as $125 million to construct a brand new detention heart. The corporate has a checkered historical past: In 2023, LaSalle agreed to a $7 million settlement over a wrongful loss of life lawsuit, and the ACLU of Louisiana has often battled with the corporate over pressured hysterectomies of ICE detainees and different alleged rights abuses.
Lemoine Catastrophe Restoration, LLC — a constructing and catastrophe providers firm headquartered in Lafayette, L.A. — was awarded a contract price as much as $83.8 million, additionally to construct an emergency ICE detention facility.
One other main contract went to Folks Who Assume, LLC — a advertising and marketing and political consulting agency based by Republican political advisor Jay Connaughton. The agency’s $25 million contract is earmarked for an ICE recruitment marketing campaign. Gulf South Analysis Group, based mostly in Baton Rouge, pulled in a number of contracts totaling $21.6 million for environmental assessments and planning, together with initiatives associated to the border wall.
See under for a full record of fiscal yr 2025-2026 CBP and ICE contracts for firms based mostly in Louisiana.
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