Getting people to a detention facility, between facilities, and eventually out of the country is its own contracted business, separate from the facilities themselves — ground transport and charter aviation, run by companies most people have never heard of. It's the connective tissue in the money map we laid out in who makes money when ICE detains someone, moving people between the facility types covered in private prison vs. county jail: where ICE actually holds people.
Ground Transport: GardaWorld Federal Services
Documented fact: In August 2026, ICE awarded GardaWorld Federal Services a contract with a potential value of up to $382.3 million to run armed, statewide detainee ground transport across all 254 Texas counties — dispatch, documentation, fleet readiness, and a secure information portal, moving detainees from local agencies to ICE processing centers and detention facilities. Roughly $100 million had been obligated under the contract at the time of that reporting, per USAspending.gov contract records. That single Texas award brought ICE's total commitments to GardaWorld to more than $700 million over the preceding six months. As of this writing, the contract was under formal protest by a competing bidder, Asset Protection & Security Services, with work paused pending resolution, expected by December 21, 2026.
U.S. Capitol, east front
The same appropriations pipeline that funds detention beds also funds the contracts that move people between them. Photo: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Air Transport: CSI Aviation and ICE Air
Documented fact: CSI Aviation is the managing contractor for ICE Air Operations — the deportation and detainee-transfer flight program — though it doesn't operate aircraft directly, instead subcontracting the flying to a mix of commercial and charter carriers. CSI's ICE-related revenue roughly tripled during the current administration's term. In FY2025, the company's total ICE obligations reached $1.1 billion, including a $562 million contract specifically for daily charter flight operations and a separate no-bid contract worth up to $219 million covering March through August 2025 (extendable to February 2026). For FY2026, CSI received the single largest new ICE contract award of that fiscal year: $673.4 million obligated, with a potential ceiling value of $1.5 billion, covering dedicated and on-demand charter flights for enforcement and removal operations. The Project on Government Oversight has tracked this contractor's role closely.
Essex County Jail, Newark, NJ
Ground transport contracts like GardaWorld's move people between exactly this kind of facility and ICE processing centers. Photo: public domain / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
"Sometimes Anti-Social, Always Anti-Fascist" Sticker
A $1.1 billion contract to fly people out of the country and a $382 million contract to drive them there first — the business of removal has a whole supply chain most people never see.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do GardaWorld and CSI Aviation operate the vehicles and aircraft themselves?
CSI Aviation subcontracts the actual flying to other carriers rather than operating aircraft itself. GardaWorld's Texas contract, per its scope description, covers agency personnel directly conducting ground transport, dispatch, and fleet management.
Why is a contract "potential value" different from the amount actually paid?
Many federal contracts, including these, are structured with a ceiling value representing the maximum that could be spent over the contract's life, while the amount actually obligated (and eventually paid) depends on how much of that potential work is ordered — which is why we've reported both figures separately rather than treating them as interchangeable. This series reports both figures whenever both are publicly available, specifically to avoid overstating a contract's real-world cost by citing only the larger ceiling number.
Is the GardaWorld contract currently active?
As of this writing, it was paused pending resolution of a competitor's formal bid protest, with a decision expected by December 21, 2026. Until that protest is resolved, GardaWorld is not performing new transport work under the contract, though its existing obligations from the preceding six months remain in effect.
"Keeping Stolen Land 'Pure' Since 2003" Sticker
A fitting pro immigrant design for the piece of this system most people never think about: the contractors who profit from the drive and the flight, not just the cell.
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Related Reading
Electronic Monitoring: The Immigration Business Outside Detention Centers: the other side of the system, for people not physically transported to a facility.
Follow an ICE Dollar: From Congress to Private Contractor: where GardaWorld's and CSI's contract dollars originate.
"Private Companies Don't Really Profit From Immigration Enforcement.": over $1.8 billion in combined transportation contracts says otherwise.
Sources: Hoodline / Project Saltbox, "GardaWorld's $382M ICE Detainee Transport Contract in Texas," Sept. 2026; USAspending.gov contract records; Project on Government Oversight, "Meet the ICE Contractor Running Deportation Flights"; reporting on CSI Aviation's FY2025 and FY2026 ICE Air contract obligations.
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