Mystery surrounds $1.2 billion Army contract to build huge detention tent camp in Texas desert

When The administration of President Donald Trump Last month, a value of a value of up to 1.2 billion dollars to build and exploit what he says will become The largest immigration detention complex in the country, it did not turn to a large government entrepreneur or even a company specializing in private prisons.

Instead, he presented the project to a military base with LLC Logistics Acquisition, a small company that has no experience listed in the management of a correction center and had never won a federal contract worth more than $ 16 million. The company also has no functional and listing website as a modest house in the suburbs of Virginia belonging to a 77 -year -old retirement flight officer.

The mystery on the prize is only aggravating last week when the new installation began to accept its first detainees. The Pentagon refused to release the contract or to explain why he selected the acquisition logistics on a dozen other bidders to build the massive tents camp in Fort Bliss in western Texas. At least one competitor has filed a complaint.

The process of passing the secret markets – and live is emblematic, declared experts, of the wider precipitation of the government to accomplish Republican President’s commitment To stop and expel About 10 million migrants Live in the United States without permanent legal status. As part of this push, the government is increasingly turning to the army to manage the tasks that were traditionally left to civil agencies.

A member of the Congress who recently visited the camp said that she feared that such a small inexperienced company was responsible for building and managing an installation which should house up to 5,000 migrants.

“It is far too easy for the standards of slipping,” said representative Veronica Escobar, a democrat whose district includes Bliss strongly. “Private installations work far too frequently with a margin beneficiary in mind as opposed to a government installation.”

Lawyer Joshua Schnell, specializing in federal contract law, said it was disturbed that the Trump administration had provided so little information on the establishment.

“The lack of transparency on this contract leads to legitimate questions on the reasons why the army would grant such an important contract to a company without a website or any other information accessible to the public demonstrating its ability to carry out such a complicated project,” he said.

Ken A. Wagner, president and chief executive department of Acquisition Logistics, did not respond to phone messages or emails. No one answered the door of his three -bedroom house listed as his business headquarters. Virginia records Wagner as owner of the company, although it is not clear if it could have partners.

The army refuses to release the contract

Defense secretary Pete Hegseth Approved using Fort Bliss for the new detention center, and the administration hopes to build more in other bases. An army spokesperson refused to discuss his agreement with acquisition logistics or to reveal details on the construction of the camp, citing the dispute over the company’s qualifications.

The Ministry of Internal Security, which includes American immigration and customs application, refused to answer questions about the detention camp which it supervises.

Appointed Camp East Montana for the nearest road, the installation is under construction in the Sand and Brush desert Chihuahuan, where temperatures in summer can exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit and heat -related deaths are common. The 60-acres (24 hectare) site is located near the American-Mexican border and the El Paso International Airport, a key center for Expulsion flights.

The camp made comparisons with “Alligator Alcatraz”, “ A complex of $ 245 million tents was erected to hold ice prisoners in Florida Everglades. This installation has been complained about unhealthy conditions and prosecution. A federal judge recently ordered the closure of this installation.

The vast majority of around 57,000 migrants owned by ice are hosted Private prisons Operated by companies like Florida Geo Group and Corecivic, based in Tennessee. While these installations are filled, the ice also explores temporary options in military bases in California, New York and Utah.

In Fort Bliss, the construction began within days of the publication of the contract on July 18. Site work began months earlier, before the Congress adopted the Trump’s major taxes and expenses, which includes a record of $ 45 billion for the application of immigration. The announcement of the Ministry of Defense only specified that the army was funding the initial $ 232 million for the first 1,000 beds in the complex.

Three white tents, each about 810 feet long, were erected, according to the satellite imagery examined by the Associated Press. Half a dozen small buildings surround them.

Related | Alligator Alcatraz 0, environment 1 – for now

Setareh Ghandehari, spokesperson for the Defense Detention Defense Group, said that the use of military bases is giving back to the Second World War, when Americans of Japanese origin were imprisoned in army camps, notably Strong Bliss. She said that military facilities are particularly subject to abuse and negligence because families and relatives have trouble accessing it.

“The conditions in all detention establishments are intrinsically horrible,” said Ghandehari. “But when there is less access and surveillance, it creates the potential of more abuse.”

The company will be responsible for security

A notice of request of June 9 for the Fort Bliss project said that the entrepreneur will be responsible for the construction and operation of the detention center, including care and medical care. The document also requires strict secrecy, ordering the entrepreneur to inform ice to respond to calls for congress or media members.

The call for tenders was only open to small businesses such as acquisition logistics, which receives preferential status because it is classified as a veteran and small disadvantaged companies belonging to veterans.

Although Trump’s administration has fought for Diversity, equity and inclusion programs of prohibitions, the rules of federal contractors include sets of small businesses belonging to women or minorities. For a company to compete for such contracts, at least 51% of it must belong to people belonging to a disadvantaged racial or ethnic group designated by the federal government.

Related | Trump says he wants other states to build migrant detention centers after Florida tour

One of the Gemini Tech Losing Bridders technology services, Texas, has tabled a demonstration contesting the price and the army precipitated construction calendar with the US government’s responsibility office, the independent surveillance arm of the congress which solves such disputes.

Gemini alleges that acquisition logistics does not have experience, staff and resources to do the work, according to a person familiar with the complaint that was not allowed to discuss the issue and spoke of the state of anonymity. The past jobs of acquisition logistics include the repair of small boats for the Air Force, providing support for information technologies to the Ministry of Defense and by building temporary offices to help the application of immigration, according to federal files.

Gemini and his lawyer did not respond to messages asking for comments.

A GAO decision on the advisability of maintaining, rejecting or requiring corrective measures is not expected before November. A legal call is also pending with an American federal court in Washington.

Schnell, the contractual lawyer, said that logistics acquisitions could work with greater companies. GEO Group Inc. and Corecivic Corp., the country’s largest prison operators in the country, expressed their interest in contracting with the Pentagon to shelter migrants.

During a call for results this month, Geo Group CEO George Zoley said his business joined an established Pentagon entrepreneur. Zoley did not appoint the company and Geo Group did not respond to the repeated requests asking with whom she had associated herself.

A Corecivic spokesperson said that he is not associated with Logistics or Gemini acquisition.