Democrats want probe of Trump officials and immigration deals

WASHINGTON – A number of Democrats led by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin are seeking an investigation into alleged connections between high-ranking Trump administration officials and companies vying for billions of dollars in immigration contracts. 

In a letter sent on Dec 8 to the inspectors general for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defence (DOD), Ms Warren, Mr Raskin and seven other Democratic members of Congress express concern that immigration contractors are “potentially receiving lucrative, no-bid contracts” because of their proximity to Trump administration officials.

The letter asks for an inquiry into personal, professional and financial ties between those officials and contractors. 

It specifically calls out border czar Tom Homan, who previously ran a firm that said it could help companies win government contracts.

Prior to joining the administration, Mr Homan

allegedly accepted US$50,000 (S$64,850) in cash

from undercover FBI agents on the promise that if Mr Trump took office, he would steer contracts to certain companies, according to the letter and reporting from other news outlets.

Earlier in 2025, after Mr Trump took office, the Department of Justice and FBI closed an investigation into the alleged misconduct, with officials calling it a “deep state” probe.

Mr Homan had said he would recuse himself from anything having to do with government contracts when he joined the administration. 

However, he has since been involved in talks during the military contracting process that is being used to dole out some of the US$45 billion Congress allocated for immigration detention, Bloomberg reported in September.

Some of the companies looking to win those contracts are Mr Homan’s former clients. 

“These circumstances raise serious concerns about conflicts of interest within DHS and DOD, and the extent to which those conflicts may be influencing the federal government’s immigrant detention policies,” stated the letter, which cited Bloomberg’s reporting and that of other media outlets.

“These apparent conflicts of interest risk the further erosion of public confidence in DOD and DHS at a time when taxpayer dollars are being funnelled toward ICE practices that are increasingly regarded as inhumane.” 

Ms Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said “instead of chasing straw men”, the Congressional Democrats who wrote the letter “should join the American people in supporting the President’s agenda to deport criminal illegal aliens”. 

A Pentagon spokesperson said the agency would respond directly to the members of Congress and referred further request for comment to the White House.

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The White House has previously said Mr Homan never accepted the US$50,000.

Earlier in 2025, Mr Homan told Fox News that “I did nothing criminal. I did nothing illegal”.

Ms Jackson on the night of Dec 8 defended Mr Homan, saying that any meetings he has held “adhere to the federal ethics and conflicts of interests rules” and that he “has no involvement in the actual awarding of a government contract”.

Immigration enforcement has been central to President Donald Trump’s second term so far, as his administration has aggressively sought to

arrest and deport immigrants

.

It also shepherded a massive tax and spending Bill through the Republican-controlled Congress that included US$170 billion for immigration enforcement and border militarisation.

Already, the federal government has agreed to spend about US$1.3 billion to build and operate a sprawling tent camp in El Paso, Texas, to detain immigrants.

Mr Homan has been at the forefront of calls to expand the government’s immigration detention capacity and pushed for the use of soft-sided facilities to meet the growing demand. 

The congressional letter also points to connections between administration officials and other contractors that are benefitting from the administration’s immigration efforts, including private prison operators, aviation companies that handle deportation flights and defence technology companies like Palantir and Anduril, whose founders and executives are close with the Trump administration. 

Palantir did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An Anduril spokesperson declined to comment on the company’s federal contract work.

The letter asks the inspectors general to detail immigration-related contracts that have been removed from the standard bidding process, the involvement of administration officials in awarding contracts, and any waivers or recusal documents for officials with former clients seeking government work. BLOOMBERG