The Department of Homeland Security has stripped Salus Worldwide Solutions, founded by former State Department surgeon William Walters III, of its contract to run the Project Homecoming self-deportation program after a corruption scandal, declining to exercise the full three years of its deal. The new $2.062 billion contract for the program's next phase has been awarded to Response AI Solutions. Salus had faced scrutiny over an allegedly rigged bidding process, a kickback scheme tied to a former DHS adviser, and claims that roughly half of its reported 'voluntary' departures actually involved migrants already in ICE custody; the company has denied any wrongdoing, saying it won the contract through a fair and competitive process. Democratic lawmakers had called for investigations into both DHS and the company over the program's handling.