Watchdog: Will ‘Border Czar’ Homan Steer Federal Contracts to His Industry-Tied, Non-Profit Group’s Leadership?

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new analysis by Accountable.US first reported by The Guardian found key board members of Border911, the far-right ‘non-profit’ group founded by President Trump’s “border czar”, Thomas Homan, are industry insiders poised to benefit from Homan’s administration role, including potential lucrative federal contracts. Conveniently for Homan and the President, unconfirmed “czar” administration positions do not require Senate confirmation and are not subject to congressional oversight. 

Homan—former acting director of U.S. Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the first Trump administration—is notorious for being one of the “architects” of Trump’s zero tolerance family separation policy, which resulted in over 5,500 child separations. By November 2024, over 1,400 children were still not confirmed to have been reunited with their parents. In recent days, Homan has been building on his authoritarian reputation by supporting subjecting schoolchildren to ICE raids.

KEY FINDINGS: 

• Border911’s board includes chairman Charles Sowell — founder and CEO of SE&M Solutions, a security management and information technology consulting firm that touts “access to senior leaders in government” and states it “hopes to secure local and federal contracts using the best experts in the government consulting industry.”
• Until February 2025, recently-resigned Border911 director Mark Hall—who was just named deputy border czar under Tom Homan—was U.S. Security Lead and Chief Security Officer for Dragados USA, a major construction and civil contracting firm. Hall claims to have led corporate security for “a $6 billion dollar international border crossing construction project,” which appears to be the Gordie Howe International Bridge between the U.S. and Canada, due to its estimated $6 billion cost.
  
• Although Homan claims he is taking a “leave of absence” from Border911, he appears to say during an interview that the group will serve as a “data-mining site” that will provide “real up-to-date data on anything related to the border,” including “apprehensions,” “ICE arrests,” and other information—raising questions about what inside information Homan will be supplying to the Border 911.  

The new analysis follows Accountable.US’ previous findings that Border911 may be violating its tax-exempt status by promoting Homan’s political activity—including a keynote role at a state Republican party convention that sold tickets to a VIP reception featuring Homan.