The Department of Homeland Security spent £750 million ($1 billion) of taxpayer money this year purchasing warehouses for immigration detention, often paying several times over assessed market value for properties linked to investors with direct financial ties to President Donald Trump and his administration.
Financial records and property data reviewed by investigative outlet More Perfect Union show that several of these warehouse purchases were made at markups ranging from 137 percent to over 1,000 percent above estimated market valuations, in transactions that coincided with institutional investors paying off distressed loans and exiting failing properties at a substantial taxpayer-funded profit.
