Overview

A $1.2 billion contract awarded through the U.S. Army’s procurement system to build and operate a tent detention camp at camp-east-montana-fort-bliss on Fort Bliss, El Paso, TX. The contractor was a company registered at a residential address in Virginia with no prior detention experience.

Why This Contract Matters

1. Military procurement bypass: Awarded through DOD, not DHS, avoiding standard ICE contracting oversight
2. No-experience contractor: The company had no track record in detention operations
3. Scale: $1.2B for a single tent camp — compare to the entire Bradford County proposal at $239M/year
4. Outcome: Three deaths within the facility’s first five months, including one ruled homicide by the El Paso County Medical Examiner. TB cases documented. Dozens of detention standard violations at opening.

The Contractor Problem

The mystery surrounding the contractor was first reported by PBS News. A company registered at a residential Virginia address — with no visible history of detention operations — received over a billion dollars to build and operate what became the most notorious facility in the new detention system.

This contract anticipated the wexmac-titus-military-procurement-bypass model: routing detention funding through military procurement to bypass normal bidding, transparency, and oversight requirements.

Sources

• PBS News: Mystery surrounds $1.2B Army contract to build huge detention tent camp

It cites only one source. If you can verify this information through an independent source — a news article, government record, or direct observation — please submit a tip.