Over the weekend, as details emerged about Omar Mateen’s background, the biggest surprise was the identity of his employer: as we reported on Sunday, it was none other than UK-based G4S plc, the world’s largest security company, where Mateen had worked ever since 2007. But what was even more surprising, is that as we had also noted several days earlier, it is the same G4S that according to a Judicial Watch investigation was implicated in transporting illegal immigrants from the Mexican border to Phoenix and “releasing them without proper processing or issuing court appearance documents.”
As we wrote at the time, the government classified this specific set of illegals as Other Than Mexican (OTM) and in just that specific week around 35 were transferred 116 miles north from Tucson to a Phoenix bus station where they went their separate way. Judicial Watch was present when one of the white vans carrying a group of OTMs arrived at the Phoenix Greyhound station on Buckeye Road.
Furthermore, one specific security company contracted by the U.S. government was driving the OTMs from the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector where they were in custody to Phoenix. The firm is the abovementioned G4S.
The involvement of Mateen with a company that was directly tasked with not only capturing and transporting illegal immigrants, but also had taken far broader liberties with its mandate and was seemingly unloading them at will, raised many eyebrows, and led to various questions, chief of which was the following: could Mateen have helped illegals immigrants and/or potential terrorists cross the border.
While we won’t know the answer, a place to start is uncovering the specific tasks that G4S was mandated to execute. As Judicial Watch noted, it had filed a number of public records requests to get more information involving the arrangement between G4S and the government, specifically the transport of illegal immigrants from the Mexican border to other parts of the country.
Today, courtesy of the government’s FedBizOpps website, and @cate_Long, we are happy to report that we have tracked down G4S’ contract. The federal solicitations in question is “Southwest Border Transportation, Medical Escort and Guard Services”, Solicitation Number: HSBP1012R0020, posted by the Department of Homeland Security for the Customs and Border Protection Office, the same CBP which is described as follows:
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is responsible for protecting our Nation?s borders in order to prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the U.S.
The total contract amount at time of posting: roughly $234 million. And, as the solicitation summary explains, G4S’s task was (and is) effectively to outsource the US border patrol:
The Contractor shall provide performance-based transportation, medical escort and facilities guard services. Transportation services will include escort, guard, and transport services for detainees in DHS custody. Transportation services will also entail over-the-road transport services in vehicles of sufficient capacity to meet the performance standards, courtroom transportation, detention facility booking transportation, security services and other related transportation and guard duties. The medical escort and facilities guard services include escort and guard services of detainees in DHS custody while at a medical treatment facility, and provide security back-up to transportation officer in a vehicle and other guard services as directed by the Contracting Officer?s Technical Representative (COTR) or a Task Order Monitor (TOM) designated by the Contracting Officer (CO).
This is the company that Mateen worked for.
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Here is the synopsis of the solicitation from the FBO’s website:
Southwest Border Transportation, Medical Escort and Guard Services
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is issuing this Request for Proposal (RFP) to procure commercial services for secure transportation of detainees, medical escort, and facilities guard services to augment Agents and Officers performing law enforcement duties at and along the Southwest Border.
In 2011, CBP apprehensions along the Southwest Border averaged 897 detainees per day that required transportation and guard services. CBP projects a continued requirement for approximately 450,000 hours of vehicle operational hours and 735,000 hours of labor operational hours over the course of each year to transport and guard the illegal aliens from their points of apprehension until they are either returned to their country of origin for repatriation or transferred to another agency for long-term detention. CBP lacks sufficient personnel and vehicular resources to support this requirement without impacting higher priority border security missions.
CBP is utilizing Full and Open competition under NAICS code 561612 in accordance with FAR Part 15 for a resulting performance-based single award indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) hybrid type contract for a term of 5 years (one 12 month Base Period and four 12 month Option Periods). The solicitation will include a mix of Firm Fixed Price (FFP) and Time and Material (T&M) line items.
The scope of the requirement is for services of trained and certified security officers to operate vehicles along the Southwest Border in the transportation of detainees. Transportation services shall be provided by contractors (Transportation Officers) that have a Commercial Driver License (CDL) and can multi-task as both a driver on a detainee transport vehicle and as a facility or medical escort guard. When not driving, a Transportation Officer may be tasked to perform ad hoc guard functions at a facility or medical establishment. Facility/Medical escort services can also be performed by qualified contractor guards that do not require CDL; however, without a CDL, those contractors may not perform as a Transportation Officer. The government will not provide GFP. The contractor will be responsible for providing a full service solution. The resulting contract will provide efficient, flexible, responsive, safe and secure operations in a variety of circumstances, such as the following:
- The gender, physical health, and risk associated with detainees will vary.
- Apprehension locations and the number of illegal aliens apprehended per event and over time will vary.
- Transports will frequently occur in a harsh and isolated environment.
An award will be made on a Best Value basis to the offeror who proposes a solution that is in the best interest of the Government. Performance requirements will be established that include but are not limited to the following areas:
- Operational Efficiency
- Operational Flexibility
- Operational Responsiveness
- Safety and Security
The operational area covers four states (California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas) and nine (9) Southwest Border Sectors. Each CBP Sector is unique and has varying requirements, as follows:
- Del Rio
- El Centro
- El Paso
- Laredo
- Big Bend (Marfa)
- Rio Grande
- San Diego
- Tucson
- Yuma
All comments concerning this solicitation announcement are to be provided in writing to the attention of Shaun G. Saad, via e-mail to shaun.saad@dhs.gov or kerri.bishop@dhs.gov
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Further details from the full solications:
1. BACKGROUND:
As a component of the United States (U.S.) Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is responsible for protecting our Nation?s borders in order to prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the U.S.; while enhancing security, and facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. CBP is responsible for the detection and apprehension of individuals illegally entering the U.S.; stemming the flow of drugs and other contraband; protecting our agricultural and economic interests from harmful pests and diseases; protecting American business from theft of their intellectual property; and regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting import duties, and enforcing U.S. trade laws. In 2011, CBP apprehensions averaged over 897 detainees per day that required transportation and guard services. The majority of all apprehensions occur within the CBP Southwest Border (SWB) Sectors and Field Offices.
Supporting this responsibility, CBP has identified requirements for detainee transportation, medical escort, and facility guard service capabilities that minimize the use of frontline agents and officers to perform guard and detainee transportation duties. These capabilities must deploy the most efficient mix of detention vehicles and human resources capable of adjusting to changes in transportation demand that may vary by shift, day, week, or season. The solution includes the use of Contractor support to provide the detainee transportation services in order to redirect agents and officers toward more traditional law enforcement duties. Contract support must strike a proper balance in terms of timeliness and efficiency when responding to the unique demands of frontline agents and officers.
This program supports operational mission requirements established by the Office of Border Patrol (OBP) and Office of Field Operations (OFO), both within CBP. Throughout this PWS, the term “Government” is used interchangeably with CBP.
2. SCOPE:
The Contractor shall provide performance-based transportation, medical escort and facilities guard services. Transportation services will include escort, guard, and transport services for detainees in DHS custody. Transportation services will also entail over-the-road transport services in vehicles of sufficient capacity to meet the performance standards, courtroom transportation, detention facility booking transportation, security services and other related transportation and guard duties. The medical escort and facilities guard services include escort and guard services of detainees in DHS custody while at a medical treatment facility, and provide security back-up to transportation officer in a vehicle and other guard services as directed by the Contracting Officer?s Technical Representative (COTR) or a Task Order Monitor (TOM) designated by the Contracting Officer (CO).
The missions of the Transportation Program are to provide transportation, medical escort and other transportation related facilities guard services for detainees in DHS custody. A Transportation Plan will be prepared monthly to schedule assignments; however, tasking may change day-to-day based on operations. The types of missions are described as follows:
- Field to Station transports occur near the border or from apprehension locations established on known egress routes and end at a station.
- Station or Port of Entry (POE) to Detention or Removal transports are conducted after the detainee has been processed. Detainees are transported from Station to Detention or Removal at a POE. This mission includes lateral repatriation across Sectors such as the Alien Transit Exit Program described in Appendix B.
- Station or POE to Station, POE or Other Destination transports are after the detainee has been apprehended at a POE or transported to a station, yet the detainee has not been processed and a final disposition of the detainee has not been determined (i.e. the detainee requires transportation to court, medical facility, etc. prior to being returned to the country of origin or held for prosecution).
- Medical Escort and Other Facilities Guard services include escort and guard services of detainees in DHS custody while at a medical treatment facility and other guard services. These duties shall include, but not be limited to: monitoring detainees in custody, serving detainees prepared meals provided by the government, searching holding cells for weapons or contraband, conducting limited pat-downs and other guard and transportation services as directed by the Contracting Officer?s Technical Representative (COTR) or a Task Order Monitor (TOM) designated by the Contracting Officer (CO).
The required services supporting CBP will be performed in the San Diego, El Centro, Yuma, Tucson, El Paso, Marfa, Del Rio, Laredo and Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sectors and within their areas of responsibility to include Border Patrol stations, Field Offices, Ports of Entry, highway checkpoints, processing centers, hospitals, courts and detention centers. Services include over-the-road transportation and guarding of foreign nationals (males, females, minors and Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC)). Schedules may be identified by a route or identified as a staging point where the transport will be determined, as needed. These services are required 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The table below provides statistics on average daily apprehensions. Detainees are transported by Agents and Officers as well as by contract services.
While most transport occurs within the geographic area defined by Sectors, there are several programs requiring transport across Sector boundaries. The Alien Transfer and Exit Program (ATEP) require the transport of detainees from the Sector in which they were apprehended to a distant Sector for repatriation. Depending on the transport distance this may be accomplished by a single trip transport or a series of transfers across state lines (California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas).
The Contractor shall be prepared to respond to unexpected situations, such as flooding, fires or national incidents, if emergency evacuation support is needed by the Government. Requirements will be expressed in terms of required capability and capacity to allow the vendor to properly resource the contract. For example, Transportation Mission Capacity (e.g. single mission volume) is defined as:
- Low: Transportation Missions with 3 – 13 detainees
- Medium: Transportation Missions with 14 – 22 detainees
- High: Transportation Missions with 23 – 47 detainees
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Here are the Personnel Qualification Compliance requirement from the solications:
Performance Requirement:
- All personnel are properly licensed and certified for their assignments in accordance with federal, state, and local jurisdiction requirements.
Performance Standard:
- 100% of the personnel are licensed and certified for their assignments. Contractor maintains records available for government audit upon request.
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Finally, here is the full Transportations Solicitation (link)