Private Prison Contractors Spend Millions on Lobbying, Get Billions in Immigration Detention Contracts

Private prison contractors have spent millions lobbying for immigration detention dollars since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last January.

GEO Group spent nearly $1.4 million last year lobbying federal lawmakers and the Trump administration on issues related to appropriations, immigration enforcement and “alternatives to detention,” according to federal lobbying disclosures.

Since Trump retook office, the federal government has collectively awarded GEO Group and its subsidiaries more than $1 billion for detention centers and services, according to federal contracting data available on USASpending.gov.

GEO Group’s 2025 federal lobbying spending is in line with recent years, and down slightly from its spike in spending during Trump’s first term. But GEO Group has signed three new lobbying firms, including one led by Ches McDowell, Donald Trump Jr.’s avowed hunting buddy.

CoreCivic has not hired any new lobbyists since Trump took office, maintaining 10 in-house and hired lobbying guns, but the company increased its spending on federal lobbying in 2025 to nearly $2 million, up from $1.8 million in 2024.

That’s more money than CoreCivic has spent on federal lobbying in a single year since 2007, during President George W. Bush’s second term. And since Trump’s inauguration, CoreCivic has received more than $544 million for detention and reentry services, according to USASpending.gov.

Both companies stress that they do not lobby for or against immigration enforcement policies, per se.

“CoreCivic’s political and government relations activities are designed to educate federal, state and local officials on the benefits of partnership corrections, CoreCivic’s ability to assist them in meeting their corrections and detention needs and our track record of success,” Ryan Gustin, a CoreCivic spokesperson, said in a statement to NOTUS.

Gustin added that CoreCivic “does not, under longstanding policy, lobby for or against policies or legislation that would determine the basis for or duration of an individual’s incarceration or detention.” He also noted that CoreCivic’s lobbying spending has remained consistent in recent years.

GEO Group, which did not respond to requests for comment from NOTUS, stresses in its quarterly lobbying reports that its “governmental relations activities focus on promoting the use of public-private partnerships in the delivery of correctional services.”

“GEO does not take a position on or advocate for or against criminal justice policy related to criminalizing certain behaviors or determining the length of criminal sentences. Furthermore, GEO does not take a position on, nor advocate for or against, immigration enforcement policies such as the basis or length of an individuals [sic] detention,” the company wrote.

GEO Group and CoreCivic, the nation’s two largest private prison contractors, have both said they see the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown as an “unprecedented” opportunity for growth.

Even before Trump returned to office, they made overtures to him, such as CoreCivic’s $500,000 contribution in December 2024 and GEO Group’s $500,000 contribution around the same time to Trump’s inauguration festivities.

The Trump administration swiftly and aggressively launched a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration that’s sowed confusion and fear among industries with immigrant-heavy workforces, prompted an ongoing standoff in Congress over stripping funding for the Department of Homeland Security and generated nationwide protests.

For example, contractors invited to bid on a proposed detention site on the coast of Oregon told NOTUS the site might not meet the agency’s own bare-minimum care requirements for detainees and were worried about blowback from the locals, who have made it clear they do not want Immigration and Customs Enforcement to build a facility in their community.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement last week that the federal government deported more than 675,000 people during Trump’s first year in office. Although it’s not possible to independently verify that figure, there is plenty of photo, video and eyewitness testimony detailing ICE’s efforts to detain and deport people the agency alleges are in the country illegally.

The Republican megabill that Trump signed into law last summer significantly expanded funding for immigration enforcement, including an additional $45 billion that helped nearly double immigration detention center capacity to 100,000.

“As the current administration continues to explore all options available to them to address the increasing demand for detention services and capacity, we expect that those options will continue to include the high-quality, cost-effective, compliant and flexible solutions CoreCivic provides,” Gustin told NOTUS.

Private prison contractors aren’t the only ones getting in on the federal lobbying action as it pertains to immigration detention and deportation.

After Trump took office, CSI Aviation hired lobbyists for the first time since 2018. The firm, Navigators Global, features a lobbying team that includes Chris Cox, White House deputy assistant for legislative affairs during Trump’s first term. It reported receiving $230,000 from CSI Aviation since June to lobby on “aerospace, defense, and immigration transportation” and implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

CSI Aviation’s investment appears to have paid off: DHS has awarded the company $1.2 billion to deport immigrants captured by federal immigration officers, according to federal contracting data available on USASpending.gov.

CSI Aviation, which did not return NOTUS’ request for comment, was running ICE deportation flights before Trump’s second term. But business has been booming since Trump returned to office. And given the influx of government funding, and the administration’s focus on deporting people who are in the country illegally, the surge in spending isn’t expected to stop anytime soon.

Because CSI Aviation is a private company rather than a publicly traded one, it does not release quarterly financial reports or hold public earnings calls with investors. GEO Group and CoreCivic are slated to release their fourth-quarter financial reports and hold their quarterly earnings calls next month.

Both GEO Group and CoreCivic reported substantial growth on their earnings reports in November. GEO Group’s total revenue was up 13% from the third quarter of 2024, and executives said 2025 was the company’s best year for new business ever, as NOTUS previously reported.

CoreCivic’s total revenue was up 18.1% to $580 billion from the third quarter of 2024.

“CoreCivic plays a limited but important role in America’s immigration system,” Gustin told NOTUS. “We know this is a highly charged, emotional issue for many people, but the fact is the services we provide help the government solve problems in ways it could not do alone — to help create safer communities by assisting with the current immigration challenges, dramatically improve the standard of care for vulnerable people, and meet other critical needs efficiently and innovatively. These are problems the American public has made clear they want fixed.”