U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) SWAT officers put on their gear. Photo Credit: WikiCommons
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Trump Administration Serving New Detention Sites on ICE

WASHINGTON — A new immigration detention site may be coming soon to a city near you. Following a directive from the Trump administration, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), issued a Request for Information (RFI) on a government contractor website to identify multiple possible detention sites.

These prospective facilities will hold “criminal aliens” and other immigration violators in support of a public safety mission under the authority of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Cities on the docket for the initiative include areas near greater Chicago; Detroit; Salt Lake City; and St. Paul, Minn.

ICE is responsible for the detention of individuals in removal proceedings, and it houses detainees in a variety of federal, state, local and private facilities. Interested parties may consider existing facilities, newly constructed facilities or a combination of the two.

According to a statement, the requirements for the program are as follows: “Each site must be capable of providing detention, medical and transportation services, including the physical structures, equipment, personnel and vehicles. Detention sites must be properly staffed to maintain a safe and secure environment.”

Facilities must provide housing, food, maintenance, laundry, utilities and dental/medical/mental healthcare. Dedicated ICE facilities are preferred, but facilities shared with other detained populations will be considered as long as appropriate separation of ICE detainees is possible.

The ideal facility or facilities will provide minimum-, medium- and maximum-security beds for adult detainees (male and female). There are also provisions to ensure inmate safety, which are detailed in the RFI available from FedBizOpps.gov.

Naturally, the the intent of this RFI aligns with the bureaucratic needs of the client organization; in this case, ICE needs to obtain market information in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rule 15.201(e) as regards “planning purposes and to determine appropriate strategies to meet the agency’s requirements.” That said, interested parties should keep in mind that an RFI is not an official Request for Proposal (RFP) or even a commitment to an RFP in the future. And your materials will not be returned.