EXCLUSIVE: Biden skirted rules for $529M no-bid migrant kids contract, says IG Report
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
SPECIAL: A new Inspector General report released Thursday morning accuses the former Biden administration of bypassing federal rules when awarding more than half a billion dollars in “sole source contracts” to a nonprofit led by a former Biden official to deal with the unaccompanied minor crisis in 2021.
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which manages unaccompanied minors covered by HHS, hired Family Endeavors, Inc. in March 2021 to help establish and manage a new emergency intake site in Texas (EIS) with 2,000 additional beds. awarded $529 million for a 1-year contract to a non-profit organization called. But according to the OIG’s new report, Biden’s ACF failed to meet federal procurement requirements requiring full and open competition due to its own “inadequate planning” rather than the COVID-induced emergency as the Biden administration stated.
Additionally, the inspector general’s report found the contract price was more than double the agency’s own cost estimate of $244 million and noted that the agency “subsequently modified” the award 15 times, extending the deadline to May 2022 and increasing the value to more than three times the original estimate from ACF.
DOGE SAYS FORMER BIDEN TRANSITION MEMBER EARNED MILLIONS FROM OPERATING VACANCY FACILITIES FOR TEXAS FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION
A family is seen walking towards a barrier blocking passage at the US border. (Department of Health and Human Services)
“ACF knew well before March 2021 that it was estimated to need more shelter beds than existing facilities could provide and that it should begin contract planning at that time,” the report states. “ACF failed to reasonably carry out the advanced planning necessary to execute a contract for the acquisition of these beds and related services through full and open competition.”
The report states that ACF made only a limited attempt to conduct the research required for the contract and did not even follow up on the resulting findings.
“On March 5, 2021, Endeavors emailed ORR, offering emergency assistance for the care of unaccompanied alien children. On March 13, 2021, Endeavors emailed ORR again with an unsolicited proposal that included the capabilities and operating concept of an emergency shelter to serve unaccompanied alien children. Three days later, on March 16, 2021, ACF set a fixed price. The report said It is stated that a sole source agreement has been signed with Endeavors to provide and operate an EIS facility in Pecos, Texas.
Family Endeavors, Inc. Images of the emergency reception area in Pecos, Texas, operated by . The nonprofit received $529 million to build 2,000 beds. (Department of Health and Human Services)
The contract, which begins in March 2021, is signed by Endeavors Family, Inc. It was the “largest contract ever” for the company and came months after the company hired Andrew Lorenzen-Strait, who served as an advisor to the Biden-Harris transition team. According to Axios, this contract was also the second largest the agency had ever awarded.
“Despite numerous requests, ACF is unable to review the Endeavors offer, price analysis techniques used to analyze the offer, or [independent Government cost estimate] “When we requested documentation, ACF told us that the awarding of contracts was under significant time constraints,” the new inspector general’s report states.
WHITE HOUSE AND DHS RETURNED ALLEGATIONS THAT ICE TARGETED A 5-YEAR-OLD CHILD IN MINNESOTA, SAID THE CHILD WAS ‘Abandoned’
Family Endeavors Inc. told Axios that its work at the border is a “continuation of services” it has been providing for immigrant populations since 2012. As of April 2021, a month after the contract began, federal procurement records showed ACF had already paid $255 million of the no-bid contract to the nonprofit; that amount dwarfed the nonprofit’s total budget of $43 million in 2018.
Family Endeavors, Inc. did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from Fox News seeking comment.
In September 2023, then-House Homeland Security Committee Chairman former Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn. and then-Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Accountability, former Rep. Dan Bishop, RN.C., sent a letter to Lorenzen-Strait about her ties to both the Biden administration and Endeavors. The letter both requested that he reach the committee for an interview and required him to preserve records of his communications with leaders involved in awarding other “sole source” contracts.
“On January 20, 2021, Family Endeavors, Inc. (Endeavors) appointed you as Senior Director of Immigration Services and Federal Affairs. Immediately prior to your position at Endeavors, you served on the Biden-Harris transition team and were previously an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official,” the letter reads. “In March 2021, just two months after you joined Endeavors, ICE awarded Endeavors an $86.9 million sole-source contract to provide hotel beds and services to immigrants illegally crossing the Southwest border.”
The letter mentions a secret video recording of Lorenzen-Strait Project Veritas “bragging” about its participation in government contracts for immigrant services.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
“You specifically refer to the Endeavors contract as a ‘corrupt agreement.’ You also discuss ‘brokering’ a deal that won Cherokee Federal, a team of tribally owned federal contracting companies, a nearly $2 billion contract with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide services to unaccompanied alien children.” The letter continues with its allegations. “In the video, you admit that Cherokee Federal was not equipped to handle the contract. You also admit that you concealed your involvement in government contracts through entities such as VerdinPoint and The Tanager Group, while publicly dealing with the company Deep Water Point & Associates.”
An HHS spokesperson said that under President Donald Trump, the ACF has implemented stricter accountability measures and strengthened oversight.
“The previous administration spent more than $1.8 billion on a facility intended to house illegal aliens that remained unused even in the last year of the previous administration, and this type of financial mismanagement is exactly what Secretary Kennedy is trying to fix,” the spokesperson said. he said. “In fact, this contract was canceled in the early months of the Trump administration as this mismanagement emerged. HHS and ORR are fully committed to protecting children, restoring accountability at every level of the system, and putting Americans first.”
Edmund DeMarche contributed to this report.
