Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US

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12. $1.26 billion for a bunch of tents

The Fort Bliss contract’s reliance on tents for detention is concerning to immigrant advocates, who say such facilities are unlikely to meet federal standards.

“All the reasons why you and I live not in tents but in homes are going to inevitably come up in a facility that doesn’t offer people walls and floors and insulation,” Emma Winger, deputy legal director at the American Immigration Council, said of tent detention in general. She points to basic needs that are significantly harder to meet with tents: protection from the elements, adequate medical facilities, safe and clean food preparation and storage. “It’s very hard to imagine how soft-sided facilities could satisfy even the low detention standards that are reflected in ICE’s most recent standards.”