President Donald Trump selected the Department of Defense contractor Acquisition Logistics to build what’s anticipated to be the largest migrant detention center in Texas — except details have emerged shining a light on Acquisitions’ ability to run the center. Acquisition Logistics, a Virginia-based small business, has never secured a federal contract worth more than $16.1 million nor does it have experience running a correctional facility, The Associated Press reported.
Questions about the business’ ability to win the contract arose after it accepted its first detainees at the site, which is situated in the United States Army’s Fort Bliss base in the border city of El Paso.
The Pentagon refused to release contract details or explain how Acquisition was selected over a dozen other bidders for the facility, one of which has filed a lawsuit. The $1.2 billion contract is part of Trump’s goal to arrest 3,000 immigrants a day, and is U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s latest facility to pop up across America.
Officials named the facility Camp East Montana for the closest intersecting road, the AP reported.
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat who represents the district the facility is in, toured it on Aug. 20 and shared with the AP her concerns about the small business building and running the facility, which is expected to hold up to 5,000 migrants.
“Private facilities far too frequently operate with a profit margin in mind as opposed to a governmental facility,” Escobar said.
She wrote in an opinion piece for the nonprofit news outlet El Paso Matters that privatizing immigration enforcement enriches corporations that are “all too eager to profit off mass deportation.” Escobar also criticized the Trump administration’s immigration tactics for not targeting dangerous people but those who are providing for their families or well-known for helping their communities.
“Contrary to Donald Trump’s promise,” Escobar wrote, “the people being targeted are not ‘the worst of the worst.’ They are the workforce that took care of Americans during COVID, help fuel the hospitality industry, are part of the care economy and do back-breaking labor in the fields under the hot sun.”
Texas detention center
The immigration detention center is on the Fort Bliss Army base and is being constructed in the sandy Chihuahua Desert, which can exceed temperatures of 100 degrees in the summer.
The facility is just east of the El Paso International Airport, a major hub for deportation flights, and 10 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. The AP reported construction started on the facility quickly after the Army awarded the contract in mid-July.
The publication reviewed satellite images of the site, spotting three white tents. The structures are similar to the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” facility in Florida’s Everglades that’s been embroiled in litigation for allegations on officials violating detainees’ right to counsel and environmental laws. A judge has since halted further construction and the Trump Administration has started relocating immigrants out of the Florida center.
Already, a subcontractor’s employee has died at the facility, local TV station KTSM reported. The employee — 38-year-old Hector Gonzalez — worked for Disaster Management Group and was killed due to a workplace incident July 21. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division are investigating Gonzalez’s death.
The AP reported Acquisition Logistics is required to provide security and medical care at the facility, and retain a strict secrecy agreement to inform ICE about any calls from Congress or news media.
Only small firms were able to bid the project, the publication reported. One of the losing bidders, Texas-based Gemini Tech Service, filed a lawsuit against the U.S., asserting Acquisition Logistics lacks experience to run the facility.
Company sues over contract
Gemini filed a complaint on Aug. 11, protesting the Trump Administration’s awarding of the contract to Acquisition Logistics. The case, filed with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, is under seal as the U.S. Government Accountability Office provided Gemini with confidential material.
An anonymous source told the AP that Gemini alleged Acquisition Logistics lacked experience, staff and the resources to operate the detention center. The Virginia-based business has repaired small boats for the Air Force, gave IT support to the Defense Department and built temporary offices to help with immigration enforcement.
Acquisition Logistics filed to intervene, stating in court documents the lawsuit affects their interests.
According to Acquisition’s filing, Gemini filed a protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office on July 28. The U.S. Army filed a notice with the office on July 31 that stated it overrode the Competition in Contract Act automatic stay.
“If the Court were to reject the Army’s override decision, that would harm Acquisition Logistics’ interest if the company is not able to immediately proceed with contract performance,” lawyers for Acquisition wrote.
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Author: Cassandra Buchman
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