As the City of San Antonio in the US takes legal action to halt preparations for an ICE detention facility on the east side, the federal agency is moving forward with a separate $382 million contract that has raised concerns among immigration advocates.
GardaWorld, the same private security contractor hired to oversee preparations for the proposed detention facility along Southeast Loop 410, was also contracted to provide armed transportation for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees.
The company is expected to begin transporting detainees by the end of October in San Antonio, Houston and Dallas – three priority areas identified by the federal government – with the goal of expanding to all of Texas by the end of 2026. The program represents a new approach to ICE detainee transportation, according to the contract and immigration advocates.
Carolina Canizales, director of Texas campaigns and organizing for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, said she expects the first-of-its-kind setup to create black holes of information.
“It’s gonna get harder for loved ones to locate their family members to see where they’re being transported and which facility they end up at,” Canizales said. “It’s gonna make it harder for lawyers to track their clients and find where they were taken, whether they’re receiving medical care that they may need.”
Canizales also raised concerns about accountability when the federal government relies on private contractors to transport people in immigration custody. That the agreement is being overseen by ICE – an agency heavily scrutinized by members of the public and Democratic lawmakers – only adds to the worry for advocates.
“It’s not only the lawlessness all this continues to enable, but it’s also that private hand where it’s a private contractor that is so hard to hold accountable,” she said. “Their goal is to make profit, not to make due diligence or due process when carrying out this contract.”
GardaWorld had active job postings for security personnel in San Antonio, including a “Special Response Security Officer,” on Tuesday afternoon.
The contract for GardaWorld was issued Aug. 31, after the Department of Homeland Security solicited contractors earlier in the summer. The agreement calls for GardaWorld to deploy armed transportation teams using vans or large SUVs equipped with “steel security partitions.” GardaWorld is in charge of finding and hiring the personnel, who are required to be armed with handguns and to provide detainees with “humane treatment.” Under the agreement, they would be operating around the clock, seven days a week and 365 days a year.
