U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Friday it is terminating the contractor running its largest detention facility, Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, and replacing it with another firm that ICE said is better positioned to improve services.
The contractor change comes as the facility has faced scrutiny over living conditions detainees described as inhumane since the camp opened last year. ICE said it recently completed an inspection of conditions, but it did not make the findings public.
The camp has an average population of nearly 3,000 detainees in six long tent encampments. The AP reported that evidence has mounted supporting claims of overcrowding, medical neglect, malnutrition and emotional distress, and that a measles outbreak recently hit the facility. Several Democratic members of Congress have called for the camp to be closed.
Detainees have said they struggled to obtain medication and health care, lost significant amounts of weight because of a lack of food, and lived in fear of security guards known to use force. The AP reported last week that there were at least 130 calls to 911 made in the camp’s first five months, including two deaths, several suicide attempts, fights and medical emergencies.
ICE said it is selecting Amentum Services, Inc., which has worked as a subcontractor at Camp East Montana, as the new prime contractor. A federal notice published Wednesday and a Washington Post report both described the switch.
In a statement quoted by the AP, an ICE spokesperson said: “Amentum’s size, maturity and pedigree make them the right partner at the right time.” The spokesperson added that ICE “will work closely with them in their implementation of higher standards of medical care, more thorough case processing and intake procedures, and delivery of performance requirements according to well-defined accountability measures.”
The outgoing prime contractor is Acquisition Logistics, LLC, which 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. The AP reported that the company 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. Records cited by the AP show its contract was set to run until Sept. 30, 2027, and that the government has committed nearly $600 million so far.
The ICE spokesperson did not say what prompted the termination. Acquisition Logistics and its president and CEO Ken Wagner did not immediately return messages seeking comment, according to the AP.
A notice in a contracting database said ICE was negotiating a no-bid contract with Amentum to run Camp East Montana, including providing secure housing, medical care and transportation, and that the contract would last 180 days. The notice said it was unclear what would happen after that period, and that ICE cited the “proprietary nature” of the camp’s infrastructure to indicate no vendor other than Amentum could provide uninterrupted services there.
The notice also said the contractor must demonstrate capacity for “rapid operational transition and sustained adherence to all regulatory and performance requirements,” and that the requirement is intended to safeguard public safety and support national enforcement priorities.
Rep. Veronica Escobar, an El Paso Democrat whose district includes the camp, said Friday she was relieved that Acquisition Logistics had been replaced and reiterated her calls for the facility to be shut down. Escobar said she had toured the facility seven times, and that “whether the new contractor is an improvement remains to be seen,” adding: “I remain deeply concerned about the chronic substandard conditions that exist at Camp East Montana.”
The switch also comes as ICE prepares to hold more detainees at additional large sites. The AP reported that ICE plans to operate warehouses across the country, with some locations planned to have up to 8,500 detainees. Escobar called on ICE not to open the warehouses, including one planned near El Paso, which she said would “serve only as tools for the administration’s inhumanity.”