Jayapal Calls for Investigation of ICE Detention Centers and Contracts
SEATTLE, WA – U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, is calling for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation into Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) billion-dollar detention center contracts with private corporations.
“ICE plans to more than double its detention capacity by the end of this year. (…) This includes a $1.2 billion contract for a large up to 5,000 detention facility on the Fort Bliss Army base called ‘Camp East Montana.’ This contract was awarded to Acquisition Logistics LLC, a small business that has no listed experience running a correction facility and had never won a federal contract worth more than $16 million,” wrote Jayapal. “ICE has also reportedly given a $2.25 million no bid contract to a Republican donor with a history of fraud.”
Since Trump returned to office, 17 detained people have died while being held by ICE. In addition to these deaths, there has been consistent reporting of substandard conditions: overcrowding leading to unsanitary environments — including reports of people left without food, water, or toilets for extended periods of time, significant delays in medical care, and the inability to contact attorneys. Worsening conditions have led to an increase in suicide attempts and people expressing suicidal thoughts in detention. This is all as the Trump Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has violated federal law, which requires Members of Congress to be allowed to conduct unannounced oversight of facilities.
As detention expands and contracts are being offered to for-profit corporations, some with no experience managing immigration detention, Jayapal is demanding that the GAO step in to investigate these contracts.
The full text of the letter can be read here.
Issues: Government Reform & Ethics, Immigration