Trump loyalist Jim Jordan linked to group that received ‘dark money’ from ICE detention contractor | Jim Jordan
Jim Jordan is among the most famous names in this part of Ohio.
Congressman and chairman of the powerful House judiciary committee taken into account He is among the most conservative and influential members of Congress and has long been a loyalist to Donald Trump.
But one report published Pogo Investigates, a nonprofit newsroom, last month highlighted close ties between Jordan and a company that has profited from the Trump administration’s sometimes violent and even deadly anti-immigration crackdown.
The report found that the American Freedom Foundation, a political action committee (Pac) affiliated with Jordan, received $250,000 in “dark money” payments last year from Geo Group, the Florida-based company that operates dozens of detention centers across the country on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
money transfer This comes 11 days after the passage of the president’s Big Beautiful Bill last July, which saw the federal government’s budget for ICE and other immigration enforcement triple to $170 billion (an amount more than Morocco’s GDP).
“A corporation and/or the corporation’s political action committee is permitted to contribute funds to the Super Pac, but not a federal contractor [such as Geo Group] it is not,” says Nick Schwellenbach, author of the Pogo Investigates report.
“Geo Group’s Pachad did not disclose this. Only the American Liberty Foundation did. Both have a legal obligation to disclose. This raises many questions about the broader universe of dark money contributions by Geo Group or other private prison companies.”
Campaign Legal Center, a litigation advocacy organization, has since I filed a complaint The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has filed a lawsuit against Geo Group for allegedly violating federal campaign finance laws by making an illegal, misreported contribution.
Critics say Taxpayer money is helping create a “deportation-industrial complex” that puts Geo Group, which operates ICE detention facilities in 16 states, including New Jersey’s Delaney Hall, at the forefront of philanthropy.
Meanwhile, conditions were poor at many of the 52 detention centers Geo operated on behalf of ICE. reported as it is very poor. Last month, detainees at Delaney Hall launched a hunger strike to protest their living conditions and accused the contractor of denying them access to medical care. This month, the state of New Jersey sued Geo Group, seeking full access to inspect the facility.
In Michigan, family members and friends of an estimated 1,500 immigrant detainees held at the North Lake Processing Center reported being verbally abused by staff and not allowed to see their detained family members.
Emails sent by the Guardian to Geo Group asking why the company donated to Jordan’s Super Pac and whether it believed the money constituted a conflict of interest were not responded to.
Some human rights groups have suggested that poor living conditions are a tactic to force immigrants to be deported. Trump’s former attorney general, Pam Bondi, worked as a lobbyist for Geo Group before joining the Trump administration.
According to reports, ICE is Geo Group’s largest source of revenue. 41% 100 percent of 2024 revenue comes from ICE. This figure is likely to increase significantly with a number of new contracts signed during the Trump administration.
While the Biden administration announced a net income of $31.9 million in 2024, the last year of the administration, last year this figure jumped to $254.3 million during the Trump White House period.
“Last year was the most successful period for new business wins in our Company’s history, with new or expanded contracts totaling up to $520 million in annual revenue,” said George Zoley, founder and CEO of Geo Group. it was said: in a recent report to investors. Zoley was born in Greece before her family immigrated to Ohio.
Late last year, there was also a two years, $60 million ICE has been contracted for skip tracing services that will be used to locate and possibly detain thousands of undocumented immigrants across the country.
On June 10, Trump signed a $70 billion immigration funding package that includes $38 billion for ICE operations.
However, despite the millions of dollars it received from taxpayers, the company was having difficulty getting out of its debt of less than $1.61 billion by the end of 2025. self reporting. But since Trump returned to the White House, Geo Group has been able to reopen 6,000 new detention beds at facilities in New Jersey, Michigan and Georgia that were previously idle and therefore loss-making.
Legal experts say the close ties between Geo Group and the Trump administration are troubling.
“The bulk of their business consists of contracts with the federal government. As a result of that work, they are categorically prohibited from making political contributions,” says Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at the Campaign Legal Center.
“Dark money is an incredibly important issue in our elections. For the 2024 election, for the last cycle for which we have complete data, the resulting figure is $1.9 billion. That’s a truly shocking amount to be spent on election influence that we can track.”
These policies also put large amounts of money into the pockets of Republican politicians.
Jordan, a ten-term congressman, represents more than 810,000 residents of west central Ohio. While the district Jordan represents is heavily swayed in favor of rural conservative voters, he faces a challenge from both a Democrat and an Independent candidate for his congressional seat in this year’s November election.
There is no way to contact the American Freedom Foundation or the American Freedom Action Fund. websitesThey claim they were “not authorized by any candidate.” But, lots of reports We argue that they are governed by Columbus-based lobbyists who former Jordanian congressional staffers.
“[The Geo Group donation is] Evidence that he favors incarceration for profit. This is something that is common in Congress and something I would like to eliminate. It’s one of the things that’s wrong with the system,” says small business owner Josh Kolasinski, who is running against Jordan as a Democrat in November.
“People say they love him, but when I ask what he does for them they answer blankly. I guess they see him on TV and like the partisan theater he portrays.”
Emails sent by the Guardian to Jordan’s communications director asking for details of his involvement with these Super Pacs and whether the Geo Group donation constituted a conflict of interest were not responded to.
Before entering politics, Jordan worked as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University, where medical doctor Richard Strauss sexually abused hundreds of male wrestlers. Jordan has denied any knowledge of the abuse for years, but the university has denied it recently settled with dozens of victims for hundreds of millions of dollars.
“This is the country of Jordan. [Maga] Democrat Bob Puglia, who lives in Jordan’s hometown of Urbana, says, “It’s not that he got caught up in the cult, it’s that he kept his word.”
“Others are responsible for the pain his supporters and others like him have endured. Is there any chance he can win?” [the November election]? It is inevitable by design.”
For Jordan, voting to support the One Big Good Bill Act last July was the latest in a long history of lining up behind Trump.
Following the 2020 presidential election, the 62-year-old launched a strong campaign to discredit Joe Biden’s victory. Observers say his blind support for Trump played a key role in Jordan’s unsuccessful bid to become the Republican House speaker in 2023.
