{"id":24413,"date":"2021-04-16T10:25:21","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T14:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/?p=24413"},"modified":"2021-04-16T10:25:22","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T14:25:22","slug":"did-biden-official-help-land-lucrative-contract-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2021\/04\/16\/did-biden-official-help-land-lucrative-contract-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"No-Bid Contracts Mean Big Bucks for Migrant Services Provider"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The federal government awarded a $530 million migrant services contract<\/a> to Endeavors<\/a>, a Texas nonprofit that recently hired a Biden transition team official. Coincidence? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The no-bid contract — the second largest ever issued by the Administration for Children and Families<\/a> (ACF) and 12 times bigger than Endeavors\u2019 annual budget \u2013 comes on the heels of the nonprofit\u2019s $87 million no-bid arrangement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to broker hotel rooms for migrant families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The San Antonio-based organization landed the two lucrative contracts less than two months after it hired Andrew Lorenzen-Strait<\/a> as senior director for migrant services and federal affairs. He was previously an adviser to the Biden-Harris transition team on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though\nEndeavors had no history as an ICE contractor and never held a prime contract\nwith ACF\u2019s parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),\nLorenzen-Strait brought D.C. connections to San Antonio. Before his stint on\nthe Biden transition, he ran a consulting firm that advised companies on federal procurement\npractices, with expertise at ACF. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From\n2008-2019, Lorenzen-Strait worked at ICE, where he led \u201chumanitarian programming in LGBTQ care\u201d and other custody-related assignments. During\nthe presidential transition, he also vetted HHS appointees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endeavors\ncharacterized its new projects as “a continuation of services we have\ndelivered to the migrant population since 2012.” The organization hasn\u2019t\nsaid how much it expects to earn on either contract, but the combined value of\n$617 million far exceeds its annual budget, last listed at $43 million in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March, ACF paid Endeavors a first installment of $255 million<\/a> for “emergency intake” and “wrap-around care” services at a migrant facility in Pecos, Texas. Yet-to-be-specified additional assignments will follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endeavors\u2019 $87 million ICE contract pays the nonprofit to arrange lodging for migrant families at hotels in Texas and Arizona. As reported by the Washington Examiner<\/a>, the contract calls for 1,200 hotel beds intended for “short term [use], and generally less than 72 hours.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\ndetails of the hotel contract surfaced, ICE cited “unusual and compelling\nurgency” as reasons for not complying with federal competitive bidding\nrules. Not everyone is buying that, and some see at least appearances of a\nconflict of interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI find it hard to believe there were no other vendors that could have been at least considered,” Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., told the Examiner. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The federal government awarded a $530 million migrant services contract to Endeavors, a Texas nonprofit that recently hired a Biden transition team official. Coincidence? The no-bid contract — the second largest ever issued by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and 12 times bigger than Endeavors\u2019 annual budget \u2013 comes on the heels of<\/p>\n

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