Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem signed off on a massive border wall contract for a Texas construction company previously accused in court of smuggling migrants into the United States and arming them “to take part in a wild shootout,” according to the Daily Beast.
The outlet reported Friday that SLSCO Ltd. received two contracts worth a combined $1 billion to build sections of President Donald Trump’s border wall near Del Rio and Laredo, Texas, as part of the administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown and deportation push.
“But the Daily Beast can reveal that SLSCO—a massive donor to Republican causes—is accused of having its own history with illegal immigration,” the publication said. “In fact, it was accused of smuggling people from Mexico into the country to work for it—then arming them to act as its guards.”
The “eye-popping claims” were raised in a lawsuit brought by two security contractors – described as a former FBI agent and a former San Diego sheriff’s deputy – who said they witnessed armed migrant workers and a shootout.
“Those guards allegedly exchanged fire with another group of migrants who snuck into the country allegedly to steal from the company’s construction sites in July of that year,” the Daily Beast reported Friday. “The security contractors said they raised the incident with upper management, who apparently did nothing about it.”
The lawsuit, which included claims of “human and weapons smuggling,” was voluntarily dismissed before reaching trial, the outlet added.
Noem – the first cabinet secretary to get the boot from the MAGA administration – personally approved the new contract, as she has done for DHS deals exceeding $100,000. SLSCO has not publicly addressed the accusations, according to the Friday report.