The federal government signed a $9,975,502.40 contract on Sept. 4 to keep security, power and fire-detection systems running at a vacant warehouse outside Williamsport, Md. A federal judge barred the site from opening as a 1,500-bed immigration detention center five months earlier, and it has sat empty since.
The order, reviewed by Project Salt Box, identifies the warehouse in Washington County as the place of primary performance. The award period runs through Sept. 3, 2027. It is the first task order issued under a broader caretaker contract vehicle the government awarded last week to Teya Diversified Solutions, an Alaska Native corporation-owned firm, worth up to $28 million.
That vehicle was awarded without competition, under a Small Business Administration program that allows Alaska Native corporation-owned companies to win federal contracts without a competitive bid.
Project Salt Box is continuing to report on the ICE warehouse initiative. Sources with direct knowledge of DHS’ plans or future contracts can reach me on Signal at mwriston.410 or by email at projectsaltbox@proton.me. Please send from a personal, non-work device.
A forecast notice ICE's contracting office filed in May had estimated the work's value at $10 million to $20 million; the final award exceeded that range by at least $8 million.
The now-archived May listing described the work as “Temporary Operations and Maintenance — Caretaker Status & Post Closing Services,” covering essential repairs and the preservation of security, electrical and fire-detection systems at ICE warehouses with office space until what the filing called full reactivation. It did not name specific properties, describing potential assignments at unspecified sites nationwide.
The Department of Homeland Security paid $102.4 million in cash for the 825,620-square-foot warehouse on Jan. 16, executing the deed four days after opening required consultation with the state historic-preservation office, without waiting for a response. Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown sued the department and ICE on Feb. 23, arguing that the purchase and the agency's plans to convert the building violated the environmental-review requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act.
With that suit already pending in federal court in Baltimore, the government went ahead and awarded KVG LLC, a Gettysburg, Pa., construction firm, a $113 million contract on March 6 to convert the warehouse into what ICE called the “Baltimore Processing Facility;” contracting records show the award carries options that could raise its ceiling to $641 million over three years.
U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson granted Brown's request for a preliminary injunction on April 15, halting the conversion on the grounds that it likely required the environmental study DHS had skipped. The litigation is ongoing.
According to the most recent status update, filed Aug. 26, contractor visits at the site between Aug. 5 and Aug. 26 included camera installation, electrical work, roof repairs, the delivery of two government vehicles and, on Aug. 19, a demonstration of lawn care equipment. The parties are due to file another status report Sept. 16.
Despite the injunction, Anovaeon LLC, a government-services contractor based in San Antonio, Texas, is still recruiting to staff the facility. Job postings for the site list positions ranging from a $22-an-hour bilingual case-processing aide to an $84,000-to-$93,600-a-year deputy director of processing operations, along with a human resources manager, an operations coordinator and shift supervisors, all listed as based in Williamsport under what the postings label “Hagerstown Processing.” The listings require candidates to pass a federal background check that can include a Tier 4 Department of Homeland Security clearance.
Adding together the $102.4 million purchase price, the KVG contract's full option ceiling of $641 million, and the $9.9 million Sept. 4 caretaker task order means the absolute most the government could potentially spend on the Williamsport site, if every option is exercised, is roughly $753.4 million. Based on available federal spending records, ICE has so far actually spent $225.4 million.
The Teya award drew notice from outside immigration policy analysts. “What an absolute boondoggle,” Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, wrote on Bluesky in response to Project Salt Box's initial report on the contract, arguing that ICE’s overall warehouse program has cost the government roughly $1 billion for facilities it will mostly not use and must now pay to maintain.
Trump's regime is wasting our taxpayer money in countless ways while average citizens are going hungry, can't afford gas and have little or no access to healthcare. What has been wasted by DHS and ICE could have paid for the Health insurance subsidies people need many times over. This wastefullness is a crime against humanity!
Thank you for pulling back the curtain and making sure we understand (enough) about all the shady dealings of ICE. “Boondoggle” is putting it so mildly. The waste is heartbreaking. We are throwing away so much of our time, treasure, and resources on the sick aspirations of Stephen Miller. Disgusting. And thank you, anyway! It’s truth we need to hear. Now. . . . Let’s VOTE!!