Last month, the Trump administration awarded a contract worth up to $1.2 billion to build and operate what it claims will be the nation’s largest immigration detention facility — not to a well-known defense or prison contractor, but to a small company with no apparent correctional experience.
Acquisition Logistics LLC, a little-known Virginia-based firm without a working website and with no prior federal contracts over $16 million, was chosen to manage the new complex at Fort Bliss in West Texas, according to The Associated Press.
The company’s listed address is a suburban home owned by a 77-year-old retired Navy officer.
It’s unclear how the firm won out over more than a dozen other bidders, but one competitor has already filed a complaint.
The project is part of President Trump’s push to deport up to 10 million illegal immigrants. It reflects a broader trend of shifting immigration enforcement tasks to the military.
“This new Republican policy to detain firefighters on the job is as immoral as it is dangerous,” Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), whose district includes Fort Bliss, said after touring the site. “It’s far too easy for standards to slip. Private facilities far too frequently operate with a profit margin in mind as opposed to a governmental facility.”
“The lack of transparency about this contract leads to legitimate questions about why the Army would award such a large contract to a company without a website or any other publicly available information demonstrating its ability to perform such a complicated project,” said attorney Joshua Schnell, an expert in federal contracting law.
Ken Wagner, Acquisition Logistics’ CEO, has not commented publicly. The Army has refused to release the contract, citing pending litigation, and the Department of Homeland Security also remained silent until after the story was first reported.
Following publication, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin defended the move: “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens.”
She added the Fort Bliss facility “will offer everything a traditional ICE detention facility offers, including access to legal representation and a law library, access to visitation, recreational space, medical treatment space and nutritionally balanced meals.”
Camp East Montana, as it’s being called, is located on 60 acres in the scorching Chihuahuan Desert near the U.S.-Mexico border. Construction began within days of the contract’s July 18 issuance. The Pentagon initially funded $232 million for the first 1,000 beds. Satellite imagery shows three massive tents and several smaller buildings.
The site has drawn comparisons to “Alligator Alcatraz,” a now-embattled ICE facility in the Florida Everglades. A federal judge recently ordered that site shut down following numerous lawsuits and complaints over unsanitary conditions.
“Conditions at all detention facilities are inherently awful,” said Setareh Ghandehari of Detention Watch. “But when there’s less access and oversight, it creates the potential for even more abuse.”
A solicitation document for the Fort Bliss project shows the contractor is responsible for construction, operation, security, and medical care — and must defer all press and congressional inquiries to ICE.
The contract was open only to small businesses like Acquisition Logistics, which qualifies as a veteran and Hispanic-owned disadvantaged business. While the Trump administration has pushed to eliminate DEI programs, such federal contracting rules remain in effect.
Texas-based Gemini Tech Services has filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office, alleging Acquisition Logistics lacks the capacity for the work. A ruling is expected by November, and a separate legal challenge is ongoing in federal court.
Possible Larger Partner Involved
Schnell speculated Acquisition Logistics may be partnering with a larger firm behind the scenes. Geo Group and CoreCivic, the country’s top private prison operators, have expressed interest in Pentagon detention contracts.
Geo Group Executive Chairman George Zoley recently said his company partnered with an established defense contractor but didn’t name it. CoreCivic denied partnering with either Acquisition Logistics or Gemini.
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