A small city in the Arizona region has decided to end its part in an unconventional contract that gave US Immigration and Customs Enforcement the legal right to operate a family detention center in the state of Texas.
The city of Eloy was already contracted with the agency, as well as CoreCivic, a private detention center company when it entered into the contract centered on the South Texas Family Residential Center, in Dilley. The new contract was given approval in 2014 to allow the US government to go around a procurement program and have the site in Texas opened as quickly as possible due to the surge in the number of Central American families and unaccompanied immigrant minors crossing the border into the US at the time.
In February, the Office of the Inspector General Of the Department of Homeland Security released a report that condemned Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the nature of the contract with the city, saying it completely failed to follow the procurement guidelines that are required by the federal government.
Harvey Krauss, the City Manager for Eloy, says the city gained around $1.5 million in revenue because of the contract but that it was never intended to be anything other than temporary. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not give an immediate statement about the decision.