ICE Proposes $776 Million No-Bid Extension for Fort Bliss Detention Camp

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is proposing to extend Amentum Services’ contract to operate Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss near El Paso, Texas, through September 30, 2027, at a potential additional cost of $776 million.

The action is a proposed no-bid extension, not a completed award. ICE’s contracting notice seeks to continue the existing contractor relationship without opening a new competitive procurement process.

What the proposal would add

Amentum’s initial contract was valued at $452 million for operations beginning in March 2026. If ICE completes the proposed extension, the company’s potential contract value for operating Camp East Montana from March 2026 through September 2027 would exceed $1.2 billion.

ICE’s justification says moving detainees to other facilities would be impractical because of limited bed space. The agency also says changing contractors would require replacing Amentum’s existing infrastructure and workforce, creating additional costs and operational risks.

Those arguments explain the proposed procurement approach. They do not establish that the extension has been approved or that the additional $776 million has been spent.

Why the facility is under scrutiny

A June 9, 2026 report from the Government Accountability Office found significant problems involving the facility’s planning, contracting and oversight. GAO said the Army and ICE accelerated the acquisition process and used a contracting approach that contributed to operational challenges.

The report identified as much as $11.5 million in payments for services during the first two weeks of the contract, before detained noncitizens were housed at the facility. GAO also found that the government paid for meals and other services that were not needed when the population was below the facility’s capacity.

GAO separately documented gaps involving detention standards, medical services, sanitation, security cameras, recreation space, attorney and family visitation, disability accommodations and classification procedures. The report said ICE did not conduct the required pre-occupancy inspection before the facility began housing detainees.

GAO made four recommendations, including adding contract provisions that adjust costs when detention populations change and creating controls to ensure new facilities meet applicable standards before opening. The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense agreed with the recommendations.

DHS has also disputed some earlier public reporting about conditions at Camp East Montana. Its September 2025 response described that reporting as false. That response predates the June 2026 GAO review and does not replace the audit’s findings, but it shows that accounts of conditions at the facility have been contested.

A national detention-policy question

Camp East Montana is one facility, but the contracting decision reflects a broader expansion of federal immigration detention. A Senate hearing record says the administration directed ICE to increase detention capacity as enforcement operations intensified and identified Fort Bliss among several Defense Department locations for emergency detention operations.

For taxpayers, the proposed extension raises questions about how quickly large detention contracts are awarded, whether no-bid renewals provide enough accountability and whether agencies are applying lessons from earlier facilities. For detained people and their families, the unresolved issue is whether the operational and care problems identified by GAO have been corrected.

What to watch next

The next key step is whether ICE finalizes the extension and publishes an award or related contract modification. Watch also for new oversight conditions, congressional requests for information, follow-up GAO work and evidence that ICE has addressed the deficiencies identified in the June report.

Sources

• SAM.gov contract-extension justification
• Government Accountability Office report
• Associated Press report
• Senate hearing record on detention expansion