The implicit threat is hard to miss. “Leave on your OWN terms,” ICE warned migrants in a social media post last September. “AVOID THE JAIL CELL. AVOID THE HUMILIATION.” Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem last year launched a $220 million ad campaign touting that message with images of cuffed detainees being forcibly placed on planes.
Salus’ self-deportation operations stretch far and wide. A review of job postings shows the company and its subcontractor, BDR Strategic Services, have been hiring “facility enrollment managers” and “detainee support officers” near detention centers across the country. In a December court filing, Salus said it had dispatched two-person “enrollment management teams” to facilities to recruit migrants for the program. As of early July, its employees have entered at least 50 facilities across the country, according to a document that Walters shared. The company claims it has facilitated nearly 80,000 self-deportations.
