- Salus Worldwide Solutions challenged the contract award to Response AI Solutions for Project Homecoming.
- The contract is worth up to two billion sixty-two million dollars over three years, and Salus’s authorization ends November twenty-first, twenty twenty-six.
- The Government Accountability Office expects a decision by January eleventh, twenty twenty-seven, potentially after the current contract expires.
Salus Worldwide Solutions has challenged the Department of Homeland Security’s new contract for Project Homecoming, contesting the award to Response AI Solutions and placing the contractor handoff under pressure. The protest is now before the Government Accountability Office. The transition is contested.
DHS awarded Response AI a contract worth up to $2.062 billion over three years on September 29, 2026. Salus filed its protest on October 2, arguing the replacement deal was not the best value for taxpayers. Its current agreement expires November 21, 2026.
The filing came within the applicable period under the Competition in Contracting Act, so the award may face an automatic stay while GAO reviews the challenge. The office has not ruled on the merits, and its decision is expected by January 11, 2027. The award has not been found improper.
The program offers certain migrants financial assistance and airline tickets to leave the United States voluntarily instead of going through formal removal proceedings. DHS now faces a transition with the incumbent’s authorization approaching its end.
The outgoing contractor’s authorization runs out before GAO’s expected decision
Salus first received a $915 million contract in May 2025. DHS later added a $200 million extension, then provided another $50 million on September 4, 2026. Federal spending records put total obligations at approximately $748 million.
The contract dispute arrives as questions about the original award and the program’s reported results continue to draw scrutiny. Salus received its initial agreement without a competitive bid despite having no prior experience as a prime federal contractor. The award also faced questions over alleged political connections and conflicting claims about how many departures the company facilitated.
Salus has denied wrongdoing and previously described the initiative as one of DHS’s most successful and humane programs. The company’s reported departure figures have also been questioned. Leaked data reportedly showed that roughly half of the departures credited to Salus involved people already in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, prompting questions about how the program counted departures as voluntary.
The protest itself does not establish that DHS acted unlawfully, and GAO has not found the Response AI award improper. Its immediate effect could be operational: the incoming contractor may be unable to begin fully while the review continues. If the transition is delayed, DHS may need to extend Salus’s contract or find another way to keep the program running after November 21.
