In brief
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the termination of Acquisition Logistics, the contractor managing its largest detention facility in El Paso, Texas. The agency aims to improve medical care and overall services through the new contractor, Amentum Services, Inc. The switch occurs amidst mounting scrutiny over living conditions at Camp East Montana, which have been criticized for overcrowding, medical neglect, and other forms of mistreatment. The new contractor's effectiveness remains to be evaluated, while Congress members continue to advocate for shutting down the facility.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is terminating the contractor running its largest detention facility and replacing it with a more experienced firm that will work to improve medical care and other services, the agency said Friday.
The contractor switch at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, comes amidst scrutiny over living conditions that detainees have described as inhumane since its hasty construction and opening last year.
With an average of nearly 3,000 detainees in six long tent encampments, evidence has mounted to support claims of overcrowding, medical neglect, malnutrition, and emotional distress. An outbreak of measles also recently hit the camp, which several Democratic members of Congress have called for closing.
Detainees say they struggle to obtain medication and health care, have lost significant amounts of weight because of a lack of food, and live in fear of security guards known to use force. At least 130 calls to 911 were made in the camp’s first five months, which included two deaths, several suicide attempts, fights, and medical emergencies, The Associated Press reported last week.
Acquisition Logistics, LLC, the ousted prime contractor, had been awarded a deal last year worth up to $1.3 billion to build and manage the camp at U.S. Army base Fort Bliss. It had no prior experience running an ICE detention facility, had never won a federal contract worth more than $16 million, and lacked a functioning website.
ICE has selected Amentum Services, Inc., which has worked as a subcontractor at Camp East Montana, as the new prime contractor. The switch comes as ICE plans to operate warehouses across the country to hold far more detainees at single locations than Camp East Montana.
The switch comes as ICE plans to operate warehouses across the country to hold far more detainees at single locations than Camp East Montana, with plans calling for some sites to have up to 8,500.
Rep. Veronica Escobar, an El Paso Democrat whose district includes the camp, expressed relief Friday that Acquisition Logistics had been replaced. She reiterated her calls for the facility to be shut down and for the contractors involved to be investigated for “the fraud they’ve perpetrated on the American taxpayer.”
