Immigration and Customs Enforcement | The Contracting Education Academy

February 3, 2021 By cs

Border wall construction paused, contracts and funding under review

President Biden paused construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and ordered a review of its contracts and funding, hours after being sworn in on Jan. 20.

The border wall was a signature of President Trump who made strict immigration policies a cornerstone of his administration. However, many viewed the wall as a waste of taxpayer resources and symbolism for xenophobia. Biden’s executive order on the border wall was one of the first he signed on Wednesday evening and one of several aimed at reversing the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.

“Like every nation, the United States has a right and a duty to secure its borders and protect its people against threats. But building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution,” said the executive order. “It is a waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security. My administration is committed to ensuring that the United States has a comprehensive and humane immigration system that operates consistently with our nation’s values.”

The order terminated the national emergency for the Southern border that Trump issued on February 15, 2019, shortly after the end of the longest shutdown in history, which resulted from differences over funding for the wall.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2021/01/biden-pauses-construction-border-wall/171548/

March 12, 2018 By AMK

ICE broke contracting rules in establishing its largest detention facility

The nation’s largest immigrant detention facility was procured improperly, according to a watchdog report, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2014 using an existing agreement with a town in Arizona as a vehicle to establish the center 900 miles away in Texas.

Since 2014, ICE has spent $438,000 annually for Eloy, Ariz., to serve solely as a middleman for a 2,400-bed detention facility in Dilley, Texas, according to the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general. The agency first contracted with the city of Eloy in 2006 to establish the Eloy Detention Center, which the city subcontracted to a company called CCA. ICE reached the agreement with Eloy through a process known as an intergovernmental service agreement, or IGSA.

After an influx of unaccompanied minors and families illegally crossed the border in 2014, ICE looked to boost its detention capacity in south Texas. The agency asked CCA and another contractor to submit proposals for a facility, but only CCA responded. The contractor negotiated directly with ICE on the provisions of the agreement. Rather than create a new contract, ICE went to the city of Eloy and requested that it modify its IGSA to enable CCA to run the South Texas Family Residential Center. The Eloy City Council gave its consent, and the agreement was altered. The provision was set to expire in October 2016, but ICE extended it until 2021.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/oversight/2018/02/ice-broke-contracting-rules-establishing-its-largest-detention-facility/146278

July 3, 2013 By AMK

Agencies need governmentwide guidance on suspension and debarment process, GAO official says

Though the suspension and debarment system has been around for many years, there is little guidance for it, Government Accountability Office Acting Director of Acquisition and Sourcing Management John Neumann said at a June 12 House Government and Oversight Committee hearing.

“You won’t find anywhere in the U.S. code other than a note in the financial chapter,” Neumann said. “That’s part of the problem. We created a system, but did not supply guidance on how it should operate.”

The Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee, established in 1986, monitors and coordinates the governmentwide system of suspension and debarment, but agencies aren’t required to work with the ISDC, Neumann noted.

ISDC relies on voluntary agency participation in its informal coordination process, which works well when used, he said. However, Neumann found that not all agencies coordinated through ISDC, and agencies without active suspension and debarment programs generally were not represented at monthly coordination meetings.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernment.com/story/agencies-need-governmentwide-guidance-suspense-and-debarment-process-gao-of/2013-06-13?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

January 15, 2013 By AMK

NASA engineer, defense contractor knowingly bought illicit software from Chinese conspirator

Chinese resident Xiang Li has pleaded guilty to copyright infringement and wire fraud charges connected to a bootleg software conspiracy that involved federal sector accomplices, U.S. authorities are expected to announce today in Wilmington, Del.

A NASA engineer and government contractor knowingly bought some of the $100 million worth of critical computer programs that Li copied from mainly American companies, according to court papers and officials.

Between April 2008 and June 2011, Li peddled ill-gotten software through the Web to colluding customers, including the U.S. public sector employees, according to court documents filed on Jan. 4. Software that retails for as much as $3 million sold for between $20 and $1,200 on the Internet shopping sites he maintained. The pirated software has uses for, among other things, defense, space exploration and explosive simulation.

See undercover videos of sting operation (courtesy Defense Video & Imagry Distribution System):

1. Avoiding Problems with Customs

2. Interacting with Customs

3. Ignoring victim company requests to cease & desist

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2013/01/nasa-engineer-defense-contractor-knowingly-bought-illicit-software-chinese-conspirator/60525/.

President Biden paused construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and ordered a review of its contracts and funding, hours after being sworn in on Jan. 20.

The nation’s largest immigrant detention facility was procured improperly, according to a watchdog report, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2014 using an existing agreement with a town in Arizona as a vehicle to establish the center 900 miles away in Texas.

Search this Website