FILE - Federal agents escort a family to a transport bus after they were detained following an appearance at immigration court, July 22, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas.
FILE - Federal agents escort a family to a transport bus after they were detained following an appearance at immigration court, July 22, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas.
Bigotry and cruelty as an end to themselves are a toxic mix, especially in regard to public policy. Throw in profit, questionable competence and an element of dark history, and it's a recipe for disaster.Ìý
All of these elements are in the mix around the Trump administration's crackdown on supposed undocumented immigrants, particularly as it pertains to a new detention facility near the southern border in Texas.Ìý
At Fort Bliss, a $1.2 billion jail for undocumented immigrants is under construction. The contract for the project was awarded by the Trump administration just last month, and yet the facility is already accepting detainees, according to The Associated Press.Ìý
Neither the U.S. Army nor the Department of Homeland Security are releasing details on the contract or much information about the facility, named Camp East Montana. However, the camp is expected to eventually house up to 5,000 detainees.Ìý
The contract itself is raising eyebrows not only because of the price tag but because it was awarded to a private firm that has never handled a federal contract worth more than $16 million and has no prior experience operating a prison. In fact, winning bidder Acquisition Logistics LLC doesn't even have a website and apparently operates out of a suburban home in Virginia. The company is headed by a 77-year-old retiree of the U.S. Navy, The AP reported.Ìý
More than a dozen other companies, including large private prison operators, submitted bids for the project, and at least one is suing the federal government, questioning the qualifications of Acquisition Logistics to manage such a massive job, according to The AP. When the people who make money off of privatizing incarceration think a situation is sketchy, it's a bad sign.Ìý
Prisons contracted out to the private sector are notorious for putting profit above most everything else, leading to poor conditions for inmates and workers alike, along with a host of other problems. Putting a facility, located in the brutal climate of the Chihuahuan Desert, into the hands of a company that possibly has no idea what it's doing seems like a humanitarian disaster waiting to happen.Ìý
Of course, the mere idea that anyone is profiting from the administration's demonization and swift detention of undocumented immigrants is sickening. It should be alarming that camps are being built at all.Ìý
Unfortunately, Fort Bliss has some connection to a dark portion of America's past in this regard. The base is one of the locations where Americans of Japanese descent were detained during World War II.
The wrongness around this entire situation is palpable, and nothing good will come from it.ÌýÂ
