SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly joined the board of directors at a company which runs detention centers for migrant children, CBS reported Friday. (Photo: Jim Greenhill/Flickr/cc)
'Sick, Dystopian Stuff': Former Trump Adviser Kelly Joins Board of Company Running Immigrant Detention Centers
"This one's particularly ugly."
May 03, 2019
In what one critic deemed a "nauseating example of the revolving door" through which powerful political players often move in and out of the private sector, former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly joined the board of a company which owns some of the largest detention centers for unaccompanied children who cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
CBS News reported Friday that Kelly is now a member of the board of directors for Caliburn International, which runs one immigrant detention center in Florida and three in Texas.
Before joining the Trump administration, Kelly served on the board of advisers for an investment firm which now owns Caliburn. But critics said that in light of at least $222 million the company has received in government contracts to operate the detention centers between 2018 and 2019--as the number of children held in U.S. custody skyrocketed--Kelly's current involvement with Caliburn represents a blatant conflict of interest.
"The fact is that when he was in the White House, the government took action that swelled the population of people that were in these facilities, and that benefited his former employer," Delaney Marsco, ethics counsel at the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, told CBS News.
Over the past year--while Kelly was serving in the White House as one of Trump's top advisers--Caliburn's subsidiary, Comprehensive Health Services, went from having a capacity of 1,250 beds to containing 3,200 beds in one of its detention centers.
On social media, critics expressed outrage at the news that Kelly is now helping to lead and profiting from a company that benefited from President Donald Trump's aggressive anti-immigration policies.
\u201cJohn Kelly joining the board of a company operating the largest unaccompanied migrant children shelter after he oversaw the implementation of state-sanctioned kidnapping from migrant families is some sick, dystopian stuff. https://t.co/QMCL3rfZBM\u201d— Erick Fernandez (@Erick Fernandez) 1556913893
\u201cIf there's a more nauseating example of the revolving door, I am at a loss to think of one. https://t.co/WFfFeULKko via @CBSNews\u201d— Adam Klasfeld (@Adam Klasfeld) 1556914788
\u201cEven this administration's revolving door takes on a new degree of cruelty and awfulness. https://t.co/9rYLbd06bS via @CBSNews\u201d— Ned Price (@Ned Price) 1556914039
\u201cThis one\u2019s particularly ugly \u2014 Trump\u2019s former Homeland Security Chief John Kelly has joined the board of the company operating the biggest shelter for unaccompanied migrant kids. \n\nThe revolving door goes round and round. Deeply disturbing.\nhttps://t.co/wczb3M3sqU\u201d— Justin Kanew (@Justin Kanew) 1556914709
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
In what one critic deemed a "nauseating example of the revolving door" through which powerful political players often move in and out of the private sector, former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly joined the board of a company which owns some of the largest detention centers for unaccompanied children who cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
CBS News reported Friday that Kelly is now a member of the board of directors for Caliburn International, which runs one immigrant detention center in Florida and three in Texas.
Before joining the Trump administration, Kelly served on the board of advisers for an investment firm which now owns Caliburn. But critics said that in light of at least $222 million the company has received in government contracts to operate the detention centers between 2018 and 2019--as the number of children held in U.S. custody skyrocketed--Kelly's current involvement with Caliburn represents a blatant conflict of interest.
"The fact is that when he was in the White House, the government took action that swelled the population of people that were in these facilities, and that benefited his former employer," Delaney Marsco, ethics counsel at the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, told CBS News.
Over the past year--while Kelly was serving in the White House as one of Trump's top advisers--Caliburn's subsidiary, Comprehensive Health Services, went from having a capacity of 1,250 beds to containing 3,200 beds in one of its detention centers.
On social media, critics expressed outrage at the news that Kelly is now helping to lead and profiting from a company that benefited from President Donald Trump's aggressive anti-immigration policies.
\u201cJohn Kelly joining the board of a company operating the largest unaccompanied migrant children shelter after he oversaw the implementation of state-sanctioned kidnapping from migrant families is some sick, dystopian stuff. https://t.co/QMCL3rfZBM\u201d— Erick Fernandez (@Erick Fernandez) 1556913893
\u201cIf there's a more nauseating example of the revolving door, I am at a loss to think of one. https://t.co/WFfFeULKko via @CBSNews\u201d— Adam Klasfeld (@Adam Klasfeld) 1556914788
\u201cEven this administration's revolving door takes on a new degree of cruelty and awfulness. https://t.co/9rYLbd06bS via @CBSNews\u201d— Ned Price (@Ned Price) 1556914039
\u201cThis one\u2019s particularly ugly \u2014 Trump\u2019s former Homeland Security Chief John Kelly has joined the board of the company operating the biggest shelter for unaccompanied migrant kids. \n\nThe revolving door goes round and round. Deeply disturbing.\nhttps://t.co/wczb3M3sqU\u201d— Justin Kanew (@Justin Kanew) 1556914709
In what one critic deemed a "nauseating example of the revolving door" through which powerful political players often move in and out of the private sector, former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly joined the board of a company which owns some of the largest detention centers for unaccompanied children who cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
CBS News reported Friday that Kelly is now a member of the board of directors for Caliburn International, which runs one immigrant detention center in Florida and three in Texas.
Before joining the Trump administration, Kelly served on the board of advisers for an investment firm which now owns Caliburn. But critics said that in light of at least $222 million the company has received in government contracts to operate the detention centers between 2018 and 2019--as the number of children held in U.S. custody skyrocketed--Kelly's current involvement with Caliburn represents a blatant conflict of interest.
"The fact is that when he was in the White House, the government took action that swelled the population of people that were in these facilities, and that benefited his former employer," Delaney Marsco, ethics counsel at the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, told CBS News.
Over the past year--while Kelly was serving in the White House as one of Trump's top advisers--Caliburn's subsidiary, Comprehensive Health Services, went from having a capacity of 1,250 beds to containing 3,200 beds in one of its detention centers.
On social media, critics expressed outrage at the news that Kelly is now helping to lead and profiting from a company that benefited from President Donald Trump's aggressive anti-immigration policies.
\u201cJohn Kelly joining the board of a company operating the largest unaccompanied migrant children shelter after he oversaw the implementation of state-sanctioned kidnapping from migrant families is some sick, dystopian stuff. https://t.co/QMCL3rfZBM\u201d— Erick Fernandez (@Erick Fernandez) 1556913893
\u201cIf there's a more nauseating example of the revolving door, I am at a loss to think of one. https://t.co/WFfFeULKko via @CBSNews\u201d— Adam Klasfeld (@Adam Klasfeld) 1556914788
\u201cEven this administration's revolving door takes on a new degree of cruelty and awfulness. https://t.co/9rYLbd06bS via @CBSNews\u201d— Ned Price (@Ned Price) 1556914039
\u201cThis one\u2019s particularly ugly \u2014 Trump\u2019s former Homeland Security Chief John Kelly has joined the board of the company operating the biggest shelter for unaccompanied migrant kids. \n\nThe revolving door goes round and round. Deeply disturbing.\nhttps://t.co/wczb3M3sqU\u201d— Justin Kanew (@Justin Kanew) 1556914709
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.