The Department of Homeland Security would face greater scrutiny of its border security contracts under new legislation that advanced in the House Wednesday.
The House Homeland Security Committee unanimously voted to advance the DHS Border Support Services Contracts Review Act Wednesday, marking the second time the committee has tried to do so after it passed the same bill last session, but lost momentum afterward.
WALL OF WASTE: BIDEN CANCELS TRUMP BARRIER BUT QUIETLY FILLS IN HALF THE GAPS
“This is an important first step to empowering our border patrol agents to focus their time on defending the homeland, while also ensuring that taxpayer dollars are used efficiently,” Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK), the bill’s author, said in a statement issued after its passage. “I am happy to see that my colleagues on the House Committee on Homeland Security agree.”
DHS has increasingly relied on contractors to carry out its work in recent years. The number of contracted services increased by 40% from 2013 to 2018, according to Brecheen.
The legislation would require the DHS undersecretary for management to submit a report to Congress listing active contracts along with the criteria that the department used to decide whether outsourcing work to the private sector for border-related services was necessary.
The legislation comes two years after the DHS agency, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, awarded two non-compete immigrant housing contracts to nonprofit organization Endeavors for more than $617 million through dealings that Republicans have questioned as unethical.
The Department of Health and Human Services also signed another deal with Endeavors that may be worth $2.1 billion to house migrant children even though fewer children are arriving at the border. The unaccompanied minors contract with Endeavors was not open for bids.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Both contracts were issued despite the DHS having several large facilities designed and staffed to house immigrant families while they were in Border Patrol or ICE custody, but have remained mostly empty since President Joe Biden took office.
Biden has opted to use nonprofits, as opposed to for-profit companies that were contracted by DHS previously, to oversee immigrant housing.
