Politics
NEW: Erik Prince Pitches Massive Private Sector Plan To Accelerate Mass Deportations
Blackwater founder Erik Prince is pitching a multi-billion-dollar, private sector plan that would help the Trump Administration accelerate mass deportations as numbers stall.
While speaking with NewsNation, Prince denied reports from Politico that he was calling for a “private army” to assist the administration with deportations. Instead, he discussed plans for upgrading logistics in order to help border czar Tom Homan reach Trump’s lofty deportation roles, which both he and President Trump have described as underwhelming thus far.
“This is not some idea of a private army,” Prince told “On Balance” host Leland Vittert. “It was a memo generated to describe how to achieve the logistics necessary to move the millions of people that they intend to deport.”
The Politico report — most of which Prince denied — claimed that the former military contractor was calling for the establishment of “processing camps” and a private citizen army to conduct arrests and deportations. He added that the memo outlines ways the private sector can assist with deportations “in a legal, ethical manner” with necessary due process.
“If people think it’s a huge number, think about how we’ve been invaded. We’ve had millions of people float into the country illegally, actually paying the cartels to smuggle them in,” Prince said.
According to the report, Prince and a handful of additional contractors submitted a 26-page proposal before President Trump’s inauguration that called for the use of private aircraft “processing camps” on military bases, and deputizing private citizens to make arrests.
If implemented, the plan would cost roughly $25 billion and would aim to deport 12 million illegal aliens before the 2026 midterm elections. Prince argued that the private sector will eventually be needed if Trump is to pull off “the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history noting that deportation flights “for years, even when other administrations are doing it, were largely contractor managed and operated.”
When asked whether the Trump Administration has expressed any interest in the proposal thus far, Prince stated that he has not heard back.
Prince discusses the evolution of modern warfare and the neocon wing of the Republican Party during a 2024 discussion with Tucker Carlson
Prince’s proposal comes as border czar Tom Homan recently expressed frustration with current deportation levels and stated that numbers must increase. ICE recently stopped posting daily deportation updates as the current pace sits at roughly 35,000 per month.
For comparison, an estimated 10 million illegal aliens entered the United States during former President Biden’s tenure.
ICE data shows that about 23,000 arrests have been made by the agency’s immigration officers since Trump’s second term began. However, many of those being taken into custody are released because federal detention centers are at near capacity, former ICE Chief of Staff Jason Houser told NewsNation.
Homan has frequently called on Congress to significantly increase funding for deportation efforts if the administration is to meet the president’s lofty goals. “The more money you have, the more successful we’re going to be,” Homan told the New York Times.
The House last week passed a budget framework that would provide a significant increase in funding for immigration enforcement efforts. The final framework is being hammered out by relevant committees in the GOP-controlled House and Senate, while President Trump has endorsed the House bill.
