ICE Wasted Roughly $17 Million On Hotel Rooms For Illegal Immigrants, Report Finds

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) awarded a massive sum to a nonprofit for migrant detention at six hotels, but $17 million “went largely unused,” while the agency oddly accepted an unsolicited contract proposal while not considering others, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE has been using housing for detained family units since 2001, an inspector general report says. Amid a migrant surge in March 2021 and the anticipation of more to come, the federal agency entered into a $86.9 million contract with the nonprofit Endeavors for a six-month period. The money was for 1,239 beds and other hotel services in Texas and Arizona.

“ICE did not adequately justify the need for the sole source contract to house migrant families and spent approximately $17 million for hotel space and services at six hotels that went largely unused between April and June 2021,” the inspector general report found. “ICE’s sole source contract with Endeavors resulted in millions of dollars spent on unused hotel space.”

As opposed to following the government’s competitive procurement process, ICE awarded the nonprofit with a sole contract after receiving an unsolicited proposal. Under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, government contracts are required to be awarded through an open competitive process.

It is typical for an agency to weigh proposals from contractors following a government request, but ICE neglected this process and said the “unusual and compelling urgency” of the migrant situation required accepting Endeavors’ offer, according to the report.- READ MORE