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Emails sent between Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and his staff indicate he had a problem with a large no-bid contract awarded to a company to house migrants and ordered an internal review, according to a Thursday report.
The Washington Examiner reported that Mayorkas was concerned with a roughly half-billion-dollar contract between his department and a company called Endeavors, which has landed several federal contracts with DHS and other federal agencies:
Internal emails obtained through a lawsuit filed by the American Accountability Foundation in 2021 and shared exclusively with the Washington Examiner revealed that Mayorkas had called for a look at how the non-compete $530 million award was paid out. The Biden administration failed to turn over documents in the matter despite AAF’s Freedom of Information Act requests.
The two emails show that on April 14, 2021, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Marsha Espinosa sent Mayorkas an email that included a news story that questioned the legality of a $530 million contract to house immigrant children at the border.
Mayorkas responded within moments after Espinosa sent Mayorkas and five other DHS employees the email: “We need to inquire of Contracting/Management to determine whether principles and rules were followed scrupulously.”
Emails reveal Mayorkas was concerned about the legality of a $530 million contract to house immigrant children at the border. The Biden administration failed to turn over documents in the matter despite AAF's Freedom of Information Act requests. https://t.co/VT3kkIcuv1
— Patriot Alerts (@alerts___) January 13, 2023
According to Tom Jones, the AAF founder and a former Trump White House official, Mayorkas’ response indicated he suspected something might be a problem.
“The email from the Secretary underscores that even he knew this contract was highly suspect and likely subject to the inappropriate influence,” he told the outlet. “Further, it seems to underscore his ignorance of this important contract and that he was concerned that people within his agency were awarding multi-tens of million dollar contracts without the top leadership of the agency signing off.”
Scott Amey, general counsel for the independent watchdog group Project On Government Oversight in Washington, who has been tracking Endeavors contracts for a couple of years, added: “Family Endeavors has large federal contracts with HHS and DHS, and my guess is that Secretary Mayorkas wasn’t pleased with the ethical and contract award concerns that were raised in the media reports. At the end of the day, he’ll likely have to answer for any cozy dealings, and it appears that he was trying to get to the bottom of it.”
The administration was in a rush to provide housing and other accommodations for a crush of migrants that inundated state and federal agencies after President Biden, on his first day in office, reversed most of former President Donald Trump’s immigration and border security policies.
In doing so, the “administration signed two no-bid deals with Endeavors to house immigrants in private facilities for more than $600 million,” the Washington Examiner reported. “Until this point, Endeavors had never received a contract from HHS or the DHS and had no experience caring for immigrants or ever been awarded a federal contract over $2 million.”
The outlet added:
Government contracts are supposed to be awarded through an open, competitive process outlined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Pushed for why it did not do so, ICE later cited “unusual and compelling urgency” as the reason for not going through the normal steps.
The Biden administration has been in hot water before over the issue of migrants.
In March, for instance, Sen. Josh Hawley revealed that Biden ordered his administration to fill up American evacuation planes from Afghanistan with as many of the country’s citizens as possible, even if they were not vetted.
“This email was shared w/ me by an American official present in Afghanistan during the evacuation who was shocked by Administration’s failure to vet Afghans before they were evacuated. Email details orders from Joe Biden to fill up the planes – even without vetting,” said the Missouri Republican.
“Total inflow to the U.S. must exceed the number of seats available. Err on the side of excess,” said an Aug. 16 email to American officials involved in the evacuation from Afghanistan. “This guidance provides clear discretion and direction to fill seats and to provide special consideration for women and children when we have seats.”
The Washington Free Beacon noted that Hawley obtained the email from an unnamed U.S. official who was “outraged” that the administration was simply filling aircraft with unvetted migrants to bring into the country. The outlet added:
The email, which has the subject line “presidential directive,” provides some of the firmest proof to date that the Biden administration decided to forgo proper vetting procedures in its rush to evacuate scores of Afghans following the Taliban’s takeover just weeks after the U.S. military retreated from the country.
