Michigan native #ErikPrince proposes #deportation plan to #ElSalvador, report says

By Justin Engel, Apr. 14, 2025

"Erik Prince, the former CEO of #Blackwater USA and a Michigan native, is among a group of defense contractors proposing to expand plans for deporting #immigrants to a prison in El Salvador, Politico reported.

"The pitch would attempt to avoid #legal challenges by designating part of the El Salvador prison system as #AmericanTerritory, the report stated.

" 'It’s unclear how seriously the White House is considering the plan by Prince, who has drawn scrutiny for his firm’s role in a deadly massacre in Iraq two decades ago,' the Politico report stated. 'But it would give Prince’s group an unprecedented and potentially highly lucrative role in an expanded version of a transnational operation that has elicited its own web of controversies, in part because it has swept up immigrants who do not have criminal records in the United States.'

"The report coincides with President Donald Trump’s plans to host #NayibBukele, the president of El Salvador, at the White House on Monday, April 14.

"Since March, El Salvador has accepted from the U.S. more than 200 #Venezuelan immigrants — whom officials with President Donald Trump’s administration have accused of gang activity and violent crimes — and placed them inside the country’s notorious maximum-security gang prison. It is also holding a Maryland man who the administration admits was wrongly deported but has not been returned to the U.S., despite court orders to do so.

"Trump has ties to the family of Prince, an automotive supplier heir from Holland. Prince is the brother of #BetsyDeVos, the secretary of education during the first Trump administration.

"Prince, a major Republican donor, has been accused of acting as a back channel on behalf of Trump. As Trump was preparing to take office in 2017, Prince met with a official close to Russian President Vladimir #Putin in the #Seychelles, islands off the coast of east Africa. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his Russia investigation said the meeting was set up ahead of time with the knowledge of former White House aide #StephenBannon.

"Prince soared to notoriety after Blackwater USA employees in 2007 shot and killed #Iraqi #civilians in Baghdad’s #NisourSquare during the Iraq war, casting a light on the role played by private contractors in U.S. military operations overseas.

"In the wake of the scandal the company’s name was changed and Prince sold his shares to a private equity fund."

https://www.mlive.com/politics/2025/04/michigan-native-erik-prince-proposes-deportation-plan-to-el-salvador-report-says.html

#ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #Academi #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal #TripleCanopy #PrivateArmy #OffLeash #ProjectVeritas #Project2025 #TigerSwan #Fascism
#Authoritarianism

#MattGaetz and #ErikPrince would like you to remember that military contractors massacring #Iraqi civilians in broad daylight was "good for America".

https://x.com/Cryptadamist/status/1878302289586454926

US military contractor CACI to face retrial over allegations of torture at #Iraq prison

Tyler Li | U. Ottawa Faculty of Law, CA
June 15, 2024

"The case against #CACI is one of many legal actions against private military contractors accused of detainee abuse, including those against #TitanCorporation (later known as L-3 Services) and CACI for their roles in alleged abuse at #AbuGhraib, as well as against #Blackwater for incidents like the #NisourSquare massacre in #Baghdad. Many of these cases faced similar legal challenges, specifically dismissals based on national security concerns and the complexities of applying US law to actions taken in war zones."

https://www.jurist.org/news/2024/06/us-military-contractor-caci-to-face-retrial-over-allegations-of-torture-at-iraq-prison/

#Gaza / Israel weighing the use of private security contractors to protect aid shipments to Gaza, officials say

Israel is exploring the use of international private security contractors to protect humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, according to U.S. officials. The idea has been broached with senior #Biden administration officials in recent weeks, as the U.S. plans to ship a floating dock to Gaza for delivering aid by sea.

However, some U.S. officials are reluctant to have American troops or private contractors operating on the ground in Gaza, especially in an armed security role, citing past controversies. The use of private security contractors by the U.S. government has repeatedly sparked controversy, with accusations of excessive force and civilian casualties in #Iraq and #Afghanistan.

The notorious 2007 #NisourSquare incident in #Baghdad, where police Blackwater contractors protecting a U.S. convoy killed 17 civilians, is highlighted as a disastrous precedent. Four Blackwater contractors were initially convicted but later pardoned by #Trump…

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-weighs-private-security-contractors-protect-gaza-aid-shipments-rcna143493

See also: Refugees International Report: Siege and Starvation - How Israel Obstructs Aid to Gaza https://kolektiva.social/@oatmeal/112098033817653500

@israel
@palestine
#Israel #WarCrimes #Gaza
#Blackwater

ICYMI - 2010: From #DemocracyNow

The Nation: Docs Reveals #Blackwater-Linked Companies Provided Intel & Security to Multinationals Like #Monsanto, #Chevron

September 16, 2010

“Blackwater’s Black Ops” — that’s the title of an explosive new article in The Nation magazine that reveals how entities closely linked with the private security firm Blackwater have provided #security and #intelligence services to a range of powerful #corporations over the past several years. The companies include #Monsanto, #Chevron, #DeutscheBank and others. Blackwater has also provided intelligence and training services to foreign governments, including #Jordan, the Canadian military and the Dutch police. We speak with investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill. [includes rush transcript]

"AMY GOODMAN: “Blackwater’s Black Ops” — that’s the title of an explosive new article in The Nation magazine that reveals how entities closely linked with the private security firm Blackwater have provided security and intelligence services to a range of powerful corporations over the past several years. The companies include Monsanto, Chevron, the Walt #Disney Company, Deutsche Bank, #Barclays and #RoyalCaribbean Cruise Lines.

"Blackwater has also provided intelligence and training services to foreign governments, including the Kingdom of Jordan, the Canadian military and the Dutch police. In 2007, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto worked with Blackwater when she returned to #Pakistan to campaign for the general elections. Bhutto was assassinated in December of 2007.

"The new revelations come from documents obtained by The Nation. They show that Blackwater’s work for corporations and government agencies was contracted using two companies: #TotalIntelligenceSolutions and the #TerrorismResearchCenter. Both companies are owned by Blackwater’s owner and founder, #ErikPrince.

"Today also marks the third anniversary of the #NisourSquare massacre, when Blackwater guards gunned down seventeen #Iraqi civilians and wounded twenty in a fifteen-minute shooting spree in #Baghdad.

"For more, we’re joined now from New York by investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill. He’s a Puffin Foundation writing fellow at the Nation Institute. He’s a Democracy Now! correspondent and author of the book Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful #MercenaryArmy. His new article in online at thenation.com."

Listen / Read more:
https://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/16/the_nation__docs_reveals_blackwater

2020: Shock And Dismay After #Trump Pardons #Blackwater Guards Who Killed 14 Iraqi Civilians

by Laurel Wamsley
December 23, 20205:44 PM ET

"Among the pardons made by President Trump this week, the pardon of four former guards for Blackwater has been regarded by some as particularly galling.

"Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard were convicted six years ago in the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians and the wounding of 17 others. Witnesses described how the American men ambushed the civilians unprovoked, firing on #Baghdad's #NisourSquare with heavy gunfire and grenade launchers.

"The massacre took place in 2007, when the four were working as guards for Blackwater, a private military contractor, on an assignment in Baghdad. They claimed they were fired on, but prosecutors said the Blackwater guards opened fire first. Slatten, whom prosecutors said started the shooting, was sentenced to life in prison."

https://www.npr.org/2020/12/23/949679837/shock-and-dismay-after-trump-pardons-blackwater-guards-who-killed-14-iraqi-civil