Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
‪@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social‬

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The Trump administration just awarded Virginia-based Acquisition Logistics a $1.26 billion contract to operate a 5,000-bed tent camp on Fort Bliss in El Paso. The company previously got just $29 million in DOD logistics contracts over 5 years; now it'll run the largest detention camp in the US.
The Fort Bliss contract is by far the biggest ever for Acquisition Logistics, which Wagner, a retired Naval flight officer, founded in 2008. It specializes in supply chain management and other technical services, particularly for the US military, according to Wagner’s LinkedIn profile. Acquisition Logistics has received contracts worth roughly $29 million from the Defense Department over the past five fiscal years, mainly for logistics support work, according to government records. Most of that was through set-asides for small businesses.

The company doesn’t appear to have any experience with detention, but earlier this year the US Army paid Acquisition Logistics more than $5 million for “lodging and conference room services” related to the agency’s work at the Southern Border under the Trump administration.
ALT

‪Kathleen Bush-Joseph‬
‪@kathleenbush.bsky.social‬
· 2h
"Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US

Tent camp with 5,000 beds would be the largest such facility in the country, fueling fears of advocates who say they often don’t meet basic needs"

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-22/trump-awards-immigration-detention-center-contract-for-fort-bliss-in-texas?utm_source=website&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=copy

Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US
Tent camp with 5,000 beds would be the largest such facility in the country, fueling fears of advocates who say they often don’t meet basic needs
www.bloomberg.com
July 22, 2025 at 2:35 PM

The Trump administration just awarded Virginia-based Acquisition Logistics a .26 billion contract to operate a 5,000-bed tent camp on Fort Bliss in El Paso. The company previously got just million in DOD logistics contracts over 5 years; now it'll run the largest detention camp in the US.

— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) 2025-07-22T18:35:13.796Z

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
‪@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social‬

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Put another way, I am *deeply* skeptical of this small contractor's ability to get the hundreds of staff necessary to operate a detention complex of 5,000 beds, and the fact that no larger operator got the contract suggests they will have a lot of difficulties meeting the obligations.
July 22, 2025 at 2:51 PM

Put another way, I am *deeply* skeptical of this small contractor's ability to get the hundreds of staff necessary to operate a detention complex of 5,000 beds, and the fact that no larger operator got the contract suggests they will have a lot of difficulties meeting the obligations.

— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) 2025-07-22T18:51:53.649Z

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
‪@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social‬

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We don't know. It's quite possible they did bid!
@propublica.org
previously reported that this contract was granted to a massive national operator at a cost of $3.8 billion, but that contract was cancelled days after it was signed for reasons still unknown. www.propublica.org/article/ice-...

ICE Awarded a $3.8 Billion Contract to Hold Immigrants on a Military Base. Days Later, It Was Canceled.
The administration still intends to move ahead with the plan to build a tent detention camp at Fort Bliss, sources said. It’s a job that promises to be highly sought after as Trump officials plan to p...
www.propublica.org

‪Rocky Flats Chimney Sweep 🇺🇸//↙️↙️↙️‬
‪@midlifesuezcrisis.bsky.social‬
· 2h
Do you think it's plausible that all the companies which could have executed this effort declined to bid for some reason? (Either ethical or just political)
July 22, 2025 at 3:03 PM

We don't know. It's quite possible they did bid! @propublica.org previously reported that this contract was granted to a massive national operator at a cost of .8 billion, but that contract was cancelled days after it was signed for reasons still unknown. www.propublica.org/article/ice-...

— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) 2025-07-22T19:03:19.198Z

[vapor2]

1. HOPE those who voted for this sadism are satisfied

[wryter2000]

2. 2029

The year we put him in it

[Turbineguy]

3. He needs those crowds.

[Ol Janx Spirit]

4. DOGE must be so proud. That's $252,000.00 per bed for a tent camp.... If the contract is for a year of operation...

...that is still close to $700.00 per day per bed to build and run the facility.

They could probably save a billion dollars if they contracted Motel 6.

[MIButterfly]

5. So that's what we needed to take health care away from millions of people and food out of the mouths of children for.

[Permanut]

6. Gotta have good quality showers..

And zyklon-B ain't cheap.

[msongs]

7. follow the money going to his bank accounts nt