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Project 2025 Is Here.
With Trump’s return to the presidency, Project 2025, a 920-page blueprint for authoritarianism in the U.S., spearheaded by the powerful and extreme far-right Heritage Foundation, is becoming a reality, affecting all Americans and people around the globe.
More than 100 far-right organizations support this plan for autocracy, which is proving to be the source for Trump’s anti-democratic policies, despite his repeated disavowal of Project 2025 during his campaign. Dozens of members of the new administration have direct ties to the effort.
Project 2025’s stated goal is to create an “ideal” America that would see women, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, people of color, and others deprived of their hard-won constitutional rights and the erosion of environmental and education protections. It also advocates for a frightening centralization of power in the executive branch, something Trump is keen to achieve. Read GPAHE’s full analysis of Project 2025 and the groups behind it.
GPAHE monitors how Project 2025 is becoming a reality and reports on the ties between the project and the administration, and its impact on the American people and democracy. We track Project 2025 activities at the federal, state, and local levels, and their plans for an authoritarian and Christian Nationalist America.
This week we look at how Project 2025’s goals of deporting migrants and muzzling the press are becoming realities under Donald Trump.
A Blueprint Realized: Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Follows Project 2025’s Playbook
In the crisp winter air of Rochester, Minnesota, two restaurant workers stepped out of Nupa, a beloved local Mediterranean eatery, and into ICE custody. The February incident forced the restaurant to shutter its north location indefinitely. Hours later, according to organizers, federal agents entered a local hospice facility posing as food delivery workers to detain another individual.
These targeted operations are overseen by border czar Tom Homan, whose promises to prioritize “criminal aliens” have proved empty. Instead, the raids exemplify a sweeping enforcement strategy directly in line with Project 2025’s policy blueprint, which states in no uncertain terms, that “Illegal immigration should be ended, not mitigated,” and that deportation must be prioritized. While Trump publicly distanced himself from the Project during his campaign, his administration’s first weeks have demonstrated remarkable alignment with its prescriptions for a dramatic escalation of immigration enforcement.
The numbers tell a stark story: Between January 20 and 31, federal authorities arrested over 8,000 undocumented migrants. ICE detention facilities were straining at 109% capacity earlier this month. The administration’s response has been to seek expanded detention infrastructure wherever possible, from Guantánamo Bay to Bureau of Prisons facilities to potential contracts with El Salvador’s prison system, where torture, starvation, unhealthy living conditions, and other human rights abuses are notorious. For Trump, the prospect is promising. “We could make deals where we’d get these animals out of our country,” he commented.
At the state level, Republican legislators are racing to implement supportive measures. Florida’s newly enacted “Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy Act” the TRUMP Act — offers $1,000 bonuses to law enforcement officers who assist in immigration arrests. Similar programs were proposed in Mississippi and Missouri — where smaller bounties are awarded for the destruction of “nuisance animals” like nutria and beavers — though Mississippi’s version was ultimately defeated, yet Missouri’s bill seems to be growing in popularity. “I’m finding a tremendous amount of support. It’s actually gaining support across the country,” Senator David Gregory told Newsweek.
Enforcement extends well beyond direct detention. In Oklahoma, the state board of education approved collecting immigration status data from children during school enrollment. Texas lawmakers are pursuing legislation to fingerprint children suspected of being in the country illegally for a Department of Public Safety database.
“State and local governments have been happy to be laboratories for the most draconian efforts around immigration, especially in the South,” notes Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, president of Texas’s NextGen America, one of the largest youth voting organizations in the country, pointing to expansive anti-immigrant legislation across Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia.
The private sector stands to benefit considerably. Prison industry titan CoreCivic’s CEO recently told investors this could herald “the most significant growth in our company’s history.” Border Czar Tom Homan has been actively courting county sheriffs to provide additional detention space, promising to lower detention standards and limit federal inspections.
The administration’s psychological warfare component mirrors Project 2025’s emphasis on deterrence. Officials like Secretary Kristi Noem are “using social media and ad campaigns with threats to “hunt you down” strategically to stoke fear, broadcasting images of ICE raids and deportations.” Even failed initiatives serve this purpose — as Michael Oropeza, executive director of El Pueblo humanitarian aid organization, observed regarding Mississippi’s defeated bounty hunter bill: “This bill was intended to inflict fear… the intention to scare people… has definitely worked.”
Resistance has emerged from unexpected quarters. Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Kevin Stitt opposed his own state’s education board’s immigration status collection plan, arguing, “Collecting 6, 7, 8-year-old kids’ addresses and immigration status in the state of Oklahoma, that’s not a public safety issue.” Pope Francis warned that mass deportations “will end badly” in a letter to U.S. bishops.
The administration’s enforcement apparatus continues to expand. ICE is exploring using the now-closed FCI Dublin prison in California as a detention center, despite documented issues with asbestos and black mold.
The privatized detention infrastructure underpinning this expansion has its own troubling narrative. At South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, a GEO Group facility, 21-year-old Peruvian asylum seeker Dulce Atahuaman Carhuancho emerged in 2023 with extensive brain damage and injuries “consistent with repeated sexual abuse and trauma” — yet the $5 billion company has provided virtually no explanation for her condition, from which she will likely never recover. Private prison company GEO Group, headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, has a long history of allegations and litigation related to abuse within its facilities across the country.
It’s one of many disturbing incidents at facilities run by GEO Group and CoreCivic, the two giants of the private prison industry that house approximately 80% of ICE detainees. An ACLU investigation found that of 52 immigrant deaths in detention between 2017 and 2021, 31 occurred at facilities run by these two companies, with 95% deemed preventable.
Despite these red flags, both companies are positioning themselves to capitalize on the enforcement surge. Their stock prices soared more than 75% following Trump’s victory, with GEO Group’s CEO George Zoley heralding an “unprecedented opportunity” and potential “doubling of all services.” ICE has already inked new contracts: $20 million to GEO Group, and $6 million to CoreCivic, which donated $500,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee. Yet conditions inside their facilities remain dire. At CoreCivic’s Torrance County Detention Facility, detainees report walking through raw sewage, while FBI investigators expressed shock at the “exceptionally large” quantities of drugs flowing through the company’s Cibola County center. Former staff describe chronic understaffing, with guards napping during 16-hour shifts.
The human toll of Trump’s policies extends far beyond detention centers. In Chicago, undocumented residents hid in their attics when ICE threatened enforcement. Agricultural workers disappeared from California citrus farms, Florida fields, and New York orchards. Texas construction sites — where undocumented workers comprise approximately 50% of the labor force — face mounting vacancies that threaten to ripple through local housing markets.
Perhaps most chilling are the wrongful arrests of U.S. citizens caught in the dragnet: a veteran in New Jersey, Native Americans on Navajo land, Puerto Rican citizens. A Miami middle school teacher with DACA protection faced arrest and possible deportation. ICE agents have even appeared at church doors, prompting outcry from faith leaders.
The administration’s ambitious daily arrest quota — approximately 1,000 people — comes with a staggering price tag. According to a study by the American Immigration Council, each “at-large” immigration arrest costs taxpayers $6,653, with an additional $3,745 for transportation to the nearest ICE facility. To meet these operational demands, Trump has diverted resources from Homeland Security Investigations’ traditional focus on child exploitation, drug trafficking, and terrorism toward immigration enforcement.
The administration is now seeking $175 to $200 billion in additional funding — six times current immigration enforcement spending levels — to accelerate this agenda. As detention facilities overflow and new sites are hastily commissioned, the industry and machinery of mass deportation continues to expand. What began with promises to target “criminal aliens” has evolved into an indiscriminate dragnet that threatens to fundamentally reshape American communities, economy, and identity — precisely as Project 2025’s architects envisioned.
The New Media Order: How Democracy Dies in Darkness
The Washington Post‘s rejection of a $115,000 advertisement calling for Elon Musk’s removal as head of DOGE crystallized a moment of profound transformation in American media. The ad’s provocative question — “Who’s running this country: Donald Trump or Elon Musk?” — would never grace the Post‘s pages, nor would its declaration that “The Constitution only allows for one president at a time.” When Common Cause and partner organizations inquired about modifying their message to meet the paper’s standards, they received a simple response: The Post would not run it. Period.
The $115,000 ad rejected by the Washington Post.
This editorial decision arrived just as Karoline Leavitt, at 27 the youngest White House press secretary in history, unveiled a seismic shift in the James Brady Press Briefing Room. “The Trump White House will speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media who are seated in this room,” Leavitt declared, announcing a new “new media seat” open to independent journalists, podcasters, and social media influencers. Within four days, over 10,000 applicants sought this rotating position.
The transformation manifested immediately. Leavitt’s first questions went not to the Associated Press, as tradition dictated, but to Mike Allen of Axios and Matthew Boyle of Breitbart. When the AP’s Zeke Miller finally got his turn — asking whether the press secretary intended to tell the truth — Leavitt’s response pivoted to accusations about the legacy media’s past coverage of Trump. Meanwhile, Natalie Winters, the 21-year-old co-host of Steve Bannon’s “War Room” on Rumble, and Sage Steele, fresh from a settled lawsuit against ESPN over vaccine mandate criticisms, found themselves elevated to the front lines of White House coverage.
This reshaping of the press corps dovetails precisely with Project 2025’s vision for media control, a blueprint whose implementation has proceeded with remarkable efficiency. The Project 2025 playbook’s premise — that media access represents a privilege rather than a right — found its practical expression when the White House barred AP reporters from events for maintaining their stylebook’s use of “Gulf of Mexico” rather than Trump’s mandated “Gulf of America.” Press Secretary Leavitt made the philosophy explicit: “It is a privilege to cover this White House,” she announced.
The synchronicity between Project 2025’s recommendations and current policy extends far beyond access restrictions. L. Brent Bozell III’s nomination to lead the United States Agency for Global Media represents a calculated move to transform an institution with a $900 million budget and weekly reach to 420 million viewers across 63 languages. His Media Research Center, a key supporter of Project 2025, has meticulously documented alleged anti-Trump media bias, even tracking the number of Saturday Night Live jokes targeting the former president.
Private sector allies have amplified the administration’s message with precision. Musk’s call for imprisoning 60 Minutes journalists came after a segment critical of DOGE aired, and after Trump doubled the amount of his lawsuit against CBS from $10 billion to $20 million over interview editing choices. “60 Minutes are the biggest liars in the world! They engaged in deliberate deception to interfere with the last election,” Musk wrote. “They deserve a long prison sentence.”
The transformation extends to the physical space itself. Conservative outlets like Real America’s Voice and Turning Point USA now populate the left wall of the briefing room, their reporters expressing appreciation for finally being “called on.” Brian Glenn of Real America’s Voice praised Trump’s transparency, while Monica Luisi of Turning Point USA thanked Leavitt for acknowledging their presence. Traditional media outlets maintain their historic assigned seats. Still, their questions increasingly compete with those from podcasters, YouTube hosts, and social media personalities LARPing as journalists who are deemed more sympathetic to the administration’s message.
Julie Pace, AP’s executive editor, recognized the constitutional implications when she characterized the White House’s actions as “viewpoint discrimination.” Her warning echoes the prescient analysis of Joel Simon, director of the Journalism Protection Initiative, who anticipated how the fusion of conservative policy agenda with expanded executive power would create an unprecedented threat to media freedom. The result is a sophisticated assault on press independence that operates simultaneously through institutional reform, legal pressure, and access control.
Project 2025’s influence on controlling information released to the public reaches beyond immediate press restrictions to target the very foundations of independent media. Its calls for eliminating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and bringing Voice of America under tighter State Department control reveal a comprehensive strategy for dismantling the infrastructure of independent journalism. As these recommendations transform into policy, they threaten to fundamentally alter the relationship between government and media in ways that could outlast any single administration.
The Washington Post‘s rejection of the anti-Musk advertisements — which would have wrapped around the paper’s exterior with its message questioning the tech billionaire’s outsized influence — represents just one calculation in an increasingly complex series of decisions facing media outlets. Virginia Kase Solomón, Common Cause’s president and chief executive, pointedly noted the irony of the Post‘s “Democracy Dies in Darkness” slogan as it refused to challenge those in power. Under Jeff Bezos’ ownership, she suggested, concerns about corporate influence over the press have only intensified.
Under Trump, journalists must navigate an environment where access depends increasingly on compliance, where critical coverage risks exile, and where the very definition of journalism is being rewritten to accommodate voices that openly declare their allegiance to the administration.
