McKinsey & Company—McKinsey consulting for ICE proposed cuts to detainee food and medical care
McKinsey performed over $20 million in consulting work for ICE, proposing cuts to food, medical care, and supervision of detainees. Consultants sought ways to accelerate deportations, raising concerns among ICE staff that recommendations risked short-circuiting due process protections. McKinsey staff also ghostwrote a government contracting document defining their own responsibilities and justifying a $2.2M contract extension. The firm ended the contract in July 2018 after media reporting.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worker Rights | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.885 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
ProPublica investigation revealed McKinsey proposed detention cost cuts that ICE staff found too harsh
ProPublica obtained 1,500 pages of documents via FOIA lawsuit showing McKinsey proposed cuts to food, medical care, and supervision of ICE detainees. ICE staff questioned whether saving pennies on detainee care justified the potential human cost. McKinsey consultants also ghostwrote a government contracting document justifying their own $2.2M contract extension.