THE DETENTION FILES A public accountability project of LULAC

They profit. People die. We watch.

Since January 20, 2025, two private detention companies have taken in $2.63 billion in federal money while deaths in ICE custody reached a two-decade high. This site holds the public record, every figure linked to its primary source.

Obligated to GEO Group and CoreCivic in the past 24 hours at the documented pace of $4.5 million a day, and counting since you opened this page

$4,500,000.00

Pace-based estimate for illustration: the 20-month average since January 20, 2025, from $2.63B obligated through August 31, 2026, is $4.5 million a day, about $52 a second. The audited figure is the USAspending award file.

$2.63Bobligated since January 20, 2025, at the same pace
0days since January 20, 2025
57deaths in ICE custody, Jan 2025 to Jul 2026
911children held past the 20-day legal limit
70,766record detained population, Jan 24, 2026
THE MONEY

Record spending, accelerating.

Federal prime-contract obligations to the two companies, by fiscal year.

$1.10BFY2024
$1.37BFY2025
$1.58BFY2026, 11 months

Source: USAspending.gov full export, retrieved Sept 5, 2026. FY2024 and FY2025 derived from stated growth rates.

Open the money file
THE DOOR

The agency and the vendor share a résumé.

4 of ICE's leaders

have worked or consulted for GEO Group. The acting ICE Director since June 2026 was a GEO executive for a decade.

  • David Venturella, official portraitDavid VenturellaGEO Group executive 2012 to 2022 and paid consultant after; back at ICE in 2025 and acting ICE Director since June 2026
  • Tom Homan, official portraitTom HomanPaid GEO Care consultant in the two years before January 2025; now White House Border Czar, and helped hire Venturella
  • Daniel Bible, official portraitDaniel BibleICE's top career detention official; left for GEO Group days before the November 2024 election

Red: joined government from GEO's orbit. Navy: left government for GEO. Official portraits.

Source: NPR via WXXI (Jun 3, 2026); POGO; Washington Post. Documented public roles only.

Open the door file
THE TOLL

Deaths at a two-decade high.

57

deaths in ICE custody from January 2025 through July 2026. The 2025 rate, 5.6 per 10,000, is the highest since 2020, and 2026 is on pace to exceed it by more than 25 percent.

  • Denny Adan GonzalezDenny Adan Gonzalez, 33Stewart, GA (CoreCivic), April 28, 2026. Died by suicide in a segregation cell less than three months after ICE's own oversight office cited CoreCivic for suicide-prevention failures and imposed no binding correction.
  • Ismael Ayala-UribeIsmael Ayala-UribeAdelanto, CA (GEO Group), September 22, 2025. Court filings say staff knew of a life-threatening emergency three days before his death and returned him to his cell; his family learned of the death from police and has sued GEO and Wellpath.
  • Edwin Lopez-CornejoEdwin Lopez-CornejoDelaney Hall, NJ (GEO Group), August 1, 2026. His family says he was denied diabetes and blood pressure medication; the New Jersey Attorney General opened a civil rights investigation. The facility's second death in eight months.

Voice rule: names with dignity; family consent before stories or photos. Sources: Atlanta Press Collective (May 12, 2026); LAist (May 13, 2026); CNN (Aug 4, 2026); CBS News; HRW and Physicians for Human Rights (Jun 25, 2026).

Open the toll file
THE OWNERS

Ordinary index funds are the ultimate owners.

Both registers are anchored by the same passive index managers, so engagement and divestment campaigns target asset managers and lenders, not only the companies.

GEO Group

HolderShares / stakeAs of
BlackRock, Inc.20.6M shares, about 15%May 2026 (13F)
The Vanguard Group13.6M shares, about 10%2026 proxy
Pentwater Capital ManagementTop-five 13F holderAug 2026
State Street; UBS; Cooper Creek; Group OneTop-ten 13F holdersAug 2026
Insiders, led by CEO George ZoleyAbout 2% combinedMay 2026

CoreCivic

HolderShares / stakeAs of
BlackRock, Inc.17.9M shares, about 16%Jun 2024 13F
The Vanguard Group12.2M shares, about 11%Q1 2025 13F
iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETFLargest single fund holderMay 2026
State Street Global AdvisorsAbout 3%2026
Insiders (largest: director Henri L. Wedell)2% to 3% combinedMay to Jul 2026

Source: GEO Group DEF 14A (2026); Fintel (Aug 2026); WallStreetZen and Tickergate (May 30, 2026); MarketBeat 13F alerts; Simply Wall St. Holdings lag up to 45 days and move with buybacks; refreshed quarterly.

Open the owners file
DECISION POINTS

The contracts everyone calls locked-in are refunded one year at a time.

Live countdowns to the renewal decisions inside the next twelve months.

OCT 15, 20260days

Aurora, CO (GEO) contract expires; $73.7M task order ends.

OCT 27, 20260days

Tacoma, WA (GEO) bridge order ends; $63.2M.

DEC 19, 20260days

The California cliff: Adelanto, Mesa Verde, and Otay Mesa management, $269.3M refunded the same week.

AUG 2027Aug2027

California City (CoreCivic) management contract expires; about $130M a year.

Source: USAspending award file, retrieved Sept 5, 2026; Colorado AG statement (Aug 20, 2026). Ceilings are maximums, not commitments.

See how to act at each decision point

The record is public. The calendar is set.

Tell the officials who fund these contracts, and the shareholders who finance them, that you are watching.