One of the key players putting Trump’s border policies into effect is consulting giant McKinsey & Company. The famously-secretive firm was put on government payroll during the Obama administration, originally to help restructure ICE.
But documents obtained by ProPublica found McKinsey’s role pivoted under Trump -- to streamlining and cheapening immigration detention. McKinsey consultants proposed slashing spending on food and medical care for migrants and cutting security supervision, among other things.
But McKinsey’s controversies aren’t just tied to its work for the U.S. government. Its client list has included opioid makers like Purdue Pharma, Saudi Arabia’s brutal monarchy, and ENRON (the infamous hedge fund brought down by an insider trading scandal).
That reputation is also seeping into the 2020 election. Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg used to work there, and he released his client list on Tuesday after pressure from voters.