When President Trump's administration last month awarded a contract worth up to $1.2 billion to build and operate what it says will become the nation's largest immigration detention complex, it didn't turn to a large government contractor or even a firm that specializes in private prisons. Instead, it handed the project on a military base to Acquisition Logistics LLC, a small business that has no listed experience running a correction facility and had never won a federal contract worth more than $16 million, the AP reports. The company also lacks a functioning website and lists as its address a modest home in suburban Virginia owned by a 77-year-old retired Navy flight officer.
- A June 9 solicitation notice for the Fort Bliss project specified the contractor will be responsible for building and operating the detention center, including providing security and medical care. The bidding was open only to small firms such as Acquisition Logistics, which receives preferential status because it's classified as a veteran and Hispanic-owned small disadvantaged business.