John Kelly: Trump’s ex-chief of staff joins board of company operating children’s detention centre
Critics say 'John Kelly and the family separation policy he enabled will go down in the history books as a stain on our nation’s moral character'
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump’s former White House chief of staff has joined the board of directors for Caliburn International, which operates the nation’s largest detention centre for unaccompanied migrant children.
John Kelly reportedly joined the company’s board of directors at some point after leaving the White House at the end of 2018, though it was not immediately clear when he started at the firm.
Before joining the White House administration, he previously served on the board of advisers at DC Capital Partners, which now owns Caliburn International.
Caliburn — which owns Comprehensive Health Services, the company overseeing four children’s detention centres across Texas, including Homestead — confirmed Mr Kelly had joined the board after protesters and media outlets outside one of the centres spotted him touring the grounds back in April.
“With four decades of military and humanitarian leadership, in-depth understanding of international affairs and knowledge of current economic drivers around the world, General Kelly is a strong strategic addition to our team,” Caliburn’s CEO James Van Dusen said in a statement.
“Our board remains acutely focused on advising on the safety and welfare of unaccompanied minors who have been entrusted to our care and custody by the Department of Health and Human Services to address a very urgent need in caring for and helping to find appropriate sponsors for these unaccompanied minors,” the CEO’s statement added.
As chief of staff at the White House, Mr Kelly was criticised for his involvement in the administration’s implementation of its zero tolerance policy along the US-Mexico border.
The policy began the systematic separation of families seeking asylum before widespread backlash and nationwide demonstrations demanding better treatment of migrants arriving at the southern border forced the president to walk it back in an executive order.
Critics immediately spoke out against Mr Kelly’s new position, including the migrants’ rights group Families Belong Together.
“John Kelly and the family separation policy he enabled will go down in the history books as a stain on our nation’s moral character,” Jess Morales, chair of the organisation, said in a statement sent to The Independent.
“He shouldn’t be able to get a job ever again,” she added. “If a company sees John Kelly’s experience terrorising thousands of children and putting babies in cages as a job qualification, it cannot be trusted to care for children.”
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