A group of prominent military contractors, led by former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince, has presented the White House with a plan to accelerate mass deportations through the use a network of “temporary camps” on military bases, a private fleet of 100 aircraft and a “small army” of private citizens authorized to make arrests.
The plan in question, laid out in a 26-page document, has an estimated cost of about $25 billion and recommends a series of aggressive tactics to rapidly deport at least 12 million people before the 2026 midterm elections.
The group is led by Prince, who has close ties to Trump, and Bill Mathews, former chief operating officer of Blackwater, the military firm known for its role in providing security, training and logistical support to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As stated in the document submitted for the federal administration’s attention, deporting 12 million people in two years “would require the government to eject nearly 500,000 illegal aliens per month. To keep pace with the Trump deportations, it would require a 600% increase in activity. It is unlikely that the government could swell its internal ranks to keep pace with this demand. In order to process this enormous number of deportations, the government should enlist outside assistance.”
At present, it is still unclear whether or not Trump has read the document signed by Prince and associates. What is certain is that neither the former Blackwater CEO nor his right-hand man Matthews, have been contacted by the government for a response.
Blackwater, now known as Academi, was founded in 1996 to provide training services to law enforcement, military personnel and other government agencies. It has gained widespread attention for its work in Iraq and Afghanistan. The company, however, came under scrutiny in 2007 following the Nisour Square massacre, when its contractors opened fire and killed 17 Iraqi civilians, wounding 20.
Several were charged with manslaughter and four were convicted in 2014. Trump pardoned them at the end of his first term in December 2020. Over the years, ties between the MAGA leader and Prince have been decidedly steadfast. Prince’s sister, for example, served as Education secretary during the first Trump administration. It also appears that the military contractor helped raise funds for an initiative to spy on progressives and Democratic organizations opposed to Trump in 2018.
In their anti-illegal immigrant plan Prince and associates have now proposed that the government “enlist” some 10,000 private citizens, including military veterans, former law enforcement officers and retired ICE officers, who would be delegated the same powers as immigration officials. Once trained, the latter would carry out the orders of Tom Homan, border czar.
At present it seems quite unlikely that such a plan could be adopted by the government, as it would face a myriad of legal hurdles.
