ICE Barbie Gives Billion-Dollar Border Contract to Accused People Smugglers
Kristi Noem, the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, approved contracts totaling $1 billion to construct sections of the U.S.–Mexico border wall for a company that has faced accusations of smuggling migrants into the country and arming them as guards.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem approved $1B in border wall contracts for SLSCO, a Texas firm previously accused in court filings of migrant and weapons smuggling.
The agreements were finalized shortly before Noem’s departure from office at the end of the month. Her department has continued expanding parts of the border barrier promoted by Donald Trump while also carrying out a widely publicized mass-deportation effort.
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The contracts were awarded to SLSCO Ltd., a Texas-based construction firm. The company received two separate deals, together worth $1 billion, to build sections of the wall near Del Rio and Laredo in Texas.
SLSCO already holds another federal contract tied to a detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida, a site Noem visited while appearing alongside Trump.
However, court filings have previously linked the contractor to allegations involving illegal immigration practices. The claims state that migrants were brought across the border to work for the company and were later armed to provide security.
The allegations appeared in a lawsuit accusing the firm of “human and weapons smuggling” across the southern border. The complaint was filed by two of SLSCO’s security contractors, identified in legal documents only by their professional backgrounds: a former FBI special agent and a former deputy with the San Diego Sheriff’s Department.
According to their account, they began working with the firm in 2019 and soon discovered migrants allegedly employed without authorization at construction locations in Southern California where Trump-era border wall work was underway.
During site audits, the contractors said they encountered Mexican nationals serving as armed security personnel.
In July of that year, those guards were allegedly involved in a shootout with another group of migrants who had entered the country and were attempting to steal materials from SLSCO construction areas.
The two contractors said they reported the incident to company leadership but claimed no action followed.
One of them later contacted associates at the FBI regarding the alleged use of undocumented workers and the reported exchange of gunfire. The contractors were subsequently dismissed from their positions, which they argued was retaliation for raising concerns.
The dispute never proceeded to trial after the plaintiffs voluntarily withdrew the case. SLSCO has not publicly addressed the allegations.
Noem personally approved the new contracts, a step required for all Department of Homeland Security agreements exceeding $100,000.
Founded in Galveston, Texas, in 1995 by brothers John, Todd, and William Sullivan, SLSCO focuses on construction and disaster response projects. The company drew scrutiny during Trump’s first presidency when it secured nearly $2 billion in bids to construct border wall segments across Texas, New Mexico, and California.
The Sullivan family has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican political campaigns, including those of Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis.
Trump dismissed Noem last week following backlash tied to multiple controversies during her 13 months as secretary.
Among the issues was criticism of a $220 million advertising campaign encouraging migrants to leave the United States voluntarily. Nearly $143 million of that budget went to a company operated by the husband of Noem’s press secretary, and the ads featured Noem riding horseback at Mount Rushmore.
Trump later said he had been unaware of the campaign and was not pleased with it. He removed Noem two days after she testified before Congress that he had known about it.
The White House and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.
