A New Mexico aviation company has filed a claim against the federal government saying it lost a lucrative contract unfairly to a newer company with ties to the Trump administration.
Along with the involuntary deportations that have made headlines this year, the Department of Homeland Security introduced a voluntary deportation program, known as , in May 2025. Part of the program involves the offer of a free one-way plane ticket out of the United States.
Albuquerque-based CSI Aviation used to have a contract for providing deportation flights. But now the contract belongs to Salus Worldwide Solutions of Arlington, Virginia.
Mother Jones recently published on the matter. Dan Friedman, one of the reporters who worked on it, says the claims the federal government didn鈥檛 follow required procurement procedures:
鈥淲hat they are saying is that you didn't have a real competition for this contract,鈥� Friedman said.
鈥淵ou pretended to have a competition, but all along you were planning to award it to this company run by this guy that you know, and that is a violation of procurement procedures, which are regular, which are required by statute,鈥� he said.
The company that does have the contract, Salus, doesn鈥檛 have a whole lot of experience in the deportation-flight business. But they do have connections to federal officials.
鈥淪alus was founded by a guy named William Walters, who previously worked in the State Department, and just a few years ago, they haven't had, it appears, any other federal contracts prior to this,鈥� Friedman said.
鈥淎nd they won this contract, which can pay them up to $915 million over three years to provide these flights. So there's a lot of questions being raised about how this company got this large contract, and whether it related to Walter's relationship to these Trump administration officials,鈥� he said.
The owner of CSI Aviation, Allen Weh, is a former chair of the state Republican Party and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2014. CSI previously held a no-bid contract for the ICE flights, according to the Project on Government Oversight. And President Trump held a campaign rally last year in a hangar at CSI after the city turned down a request to use the convention center.
The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the Salus contract to the magazine. Friedman said the suit filed by CSI is part of a larger pattern of scrutiny over contracts awarded as part of federal anti-immigration initiatives.
鈥淭hat is part of a pattern in which there is a lot of smoke with the contracts that are coming out of DHS,鈥� Friedman said. 鈥淩ight now, we have reports that Corey Lewandowski is a special government employee and is an advisor to DHS Secretary Christy Noam, and is involving himself in the award of specific contracts, which is problematic. We have, of course, the reporting about Tom Holman . . . all of these go to the question of the integrity of the Homeland Security Department's procurement.鈥�
Friedman also said that those concerned about the agency鈥檚 practices include those who support current federal immigration policy.
鈥淚 talked to officials at DHS for this and other contractors, and a lot of these people, they're big Trump supporters, and they are up in arms about some of the contracts that are being handed out, not because they're against the programs, but because they think they're corrupt,鈥� he said.
鈥淪o this is something, that Americans don't have to agree on the policy to think we don't want to see our tax money wasted.鈥�
The timeline for how matters will proceed regarding the CSI complaint is unclear, as the Federal Court of Claims is among the agencies currently at a standstill because of the government shutdown.
