The operator changed. The facility stayed open. The money kept moving.
Camp East Montana: what can still be stopped
A federal audit documented cost and conditions failures at a 5,000-capacity detention site in El Paso, Texas. ICE terminated the earlier Acquisition Logistics order for the government's convenience on April 17, 2026, GAO reports that a different vendor began operating the site on April 18, a noncompetitive award of $452,855,435.04 went to Amentum Services, Inc., and AP reported ICE's published justification to extend that award through September 30, 2027 at a potential additional cost of up to $776 million. Four GAO recommendations remain open.
- Decision at issue
- Whether ICE adopts a pricing mechanism that ties payment to the population actually held, including on the Camp East Montana contract.
- Who controls it
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security · Office of the Director, ICE
- Date · certainty
- Estimated implementation horizon: by the end of 2026 · Estimated date
- Current status
- Open
- Evidence basis
- Observed
A reported period end is not a verified decision deadline. No source indexed here establishes when this agency must decide, obligate, renew, or exercise an option.
The chain
01
Public money
Federal detention contracting
02
Award / reported extension
70CDCR26C00000016 · $452.9M
03
Audit findings
GAO-26-108886
04
Open recommendations
4 recorded
05
Responsible institutions
Federal — ICE, DHS, the Department of the Army, GAO, and Congress.
06
Remaining routes
2 recorded
Money and dates, kept apart
Amount types and date types are never blended. Each cell below states what it is.
- Initial award on federal record
- $452.9M
- Current award value recorded on the federal award record for 70CDCR26C00000016. Not a statement that this amount was obligated, outlayed, or paid.
- Obligated at source snapshot
- $452.9M
- Amount obligated as of the snapshot read from the federal award record. Obligation is a commitment, not a payment.
- Outlayed at source snapshot
- $0
- Amount actually disbursed as of that snapshot. Obligation and outlay are separate reported fields, so a low figure does not establish that less was spent.
- Reported potential extension
- $776M
- AP-reported potential extension value. Not obligated, not outlayed, not paid.
- Current award period ends
- September 30, 2026
- Period-of-performance end on the federal award record. Not a published decision date.
- Reported extension period end
- September 30, 2027
- Reported period end from AP's reporting on ICE's justification notice. Not a deadline.
What can still be stopped
Concrete decision points only. A route absent here was not verified — it was not omitted for convenience.
Audit recommendations · 4
Each recommendation is its own window. Status is published by the auditor. None carries a compliance deadline.
GAO recommendation 1 — cost-saving mechanisms in future acquisitions
Decision at issue
Whether ICE adopts a pricing mechanism that ties payment to the population actually held, including on the Camp East Montana contract.
- Controls it
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security
- Office of the Director, ICE
- Federal
- Date · Estimated date
- Estimated implementation horizon: by the end of 2026
- An agency estimate, not a deadline. GAO reports that DHS stated in May 2026 it was shifting the Camp East Montana contract to tiered pricing and estimated doing so by the end of 2026. December 31, 2026 is this project's normalized sort boundary for that “by end of 2026” estimate, and no calendar file is offered for it.
What could still change
Future awards of this type would stop paying full capacity costs for capacity not in use.
Institutional routes
- Track recommendation status on the GAO product pageU.S. Government Accountability OfficeGAO publishes the open or closed status of each recommendation it makes.www.gao.gov
Still unknown
- The end-of-2026 figure is an agency estimate reported by GAO, not a compliance deadline. No source establishes a date by which ICE must act, and December 31, 2026 is only this project's normalized representation of that estimate.
- Whether the tiered-pricing change has been executed is not established in the sources indexed here.
GAO recommendation 2 — controls for pre-occupancy inspections
Decision at issue
Whether ICE puts a documented control in place before the next facility of this type is occupied.
- Controls it
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security
- Office of the Director, ICE
- Federal
- Date · Unknown date
- No verified hard date
- GAO recommendations do not carry a published compliance deadline. GAO-26-108886 was published June 9, 2026; that is a source publication date, not a deadline.
What could still change
A new site could not be occupied without a completed, documented pre-occupancy inspection.
Institutional routes
- Track recommendation status on the GAO product pageU.S. Government Accountability OfficeGAO publishes the open or closed status of each recommendation it makes.www.gao.gov
- Request the inspection policy and any implementing directiveU.S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementInspection directives and their revision history are ordinarily requestable agency records.
Still unknown
- No implementation date is published for this recommendation.
- Whether ICE has since issued any implementing control beyond the existing policy it cited is not established in the sources indexed here.
GAO recommendation 3 — Army assessment and lessons learned
Decision at issue
Whether the Army completes and documents an assessment of its role in this acquisition.
- Controls it
- Department of the Army, Department of Defense
- Office of the Secretary of the Army
- Federal
- Date · Unknown date
- No verified hard date
- GAO recommendations do not carry a published compliance deadline. GAO-26-108886 was published June 9, 2026; that is a source publication date, not a deadline.
What could still change
A written record of what the Army would do differently on the next interagency detention support acquisition.
Institutional routes
- Track recommendation status on the GAO product pageU.S. Government Accountability OfficeGAO publishes the open or closed status of each recommendation it makes.www.gao.gov
Still unknown
- No implementation date is published for this recommendation.
- Whether the Army has begun or completed the assessment is not established in the sources indexed here.
GAO recommendation 4 — DHS assessment and lessons learned
Decision at issue
Whether DHS completes and documents an assessment covering capacity expansions run with other agencies.
- Controls it
- Department of Homeland Security
- Office of the Secretary of Homeland Security
- Federal
- Date · Unknown date
- No verified hard date
- GAO recommendations do not carry a published compliance deadline. GAO-26-108886 was published June 9, 2026; that is a source publication date, not a deadline.
What could still change
A departmental record governing how the next multi-agency expansion is planned, inspected, and priced.
Institutional routes
- Track recommendation status on the GAO product pageU.S. Government Accountability OfficeGAO publishes the open or closed status of each recommendation it makes.www.gao.gov
Still unknown
- No implementation date is published for this recommendation.
- Whether the ICE and Office of the Chief Readiness Support Officer assessment has begun or concluded is not established in the sources indexed here.
Other routes · 2
Reported extension period would end September 30, 2027
Decision at issue
Whether the reported extension is executed, and on what terms, quantity, and price basis.
- Controls it
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- ICE Office of Acquisition Management
- Federal
- Date · Estimated date
- Reported period end: September 30, 2027
- Reported extension period end, as described in AP's reporting on ICE's justification notice. It is not a verified decision deadline and this project does not present it as one.
What could still change
Competition instead of a sole-source extension, a price structure tied to the population actually held, or a shorter extension period.
Institutional routes
- Request the published justification notice and its approval recordU.S. Department of Homeland SecurityThe justification for other than full and open competition, and the approvals attached to it, are ordinarily requestable records.
Still unknown
- Whether the reported extension has been executed is not established by the records indexed here.
- The $776 million figure is an AP-reported potential extension value; no obligated amount for an extension appears on the award record read here.
Current period of performance ends September 30, 2026
Decision at issue
Whether ICE extends the noncompetitive award, recompetes the requirement, or ends it at the recorded period end.
- Controls it
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- ICE Office of Acquisition Management
- Federal
- Date · Hard date
- September 30, 2026
- Period-of-performance end date on the federal award record for PIID 70CDCR26C00000016. It is a period end, not a published decision date, and no source establishes when ICE must decide.
What could still change
A competed follow-on, a shorter period, tiered pricing tied to actual population, or no follow-on award at all.
Institutional routes
- Track the award record for modification actionsUSAspending.govModification actions on PIID 70CDCR26C00000016 appear on the public award record after they are reported.www.usaspending.gov
- Appropriations and DHS oversight committeesU.S. CongressCommittees with standing jurisdiction can request the acquisition file before a follow-on action is signed.
Still unknown
- The date by which ICE must decide is not established by any source indexed here.
- Whether a modification has been signed after the August 20, 2026 review is not established here.
What this does not establish
What the evidence establishes
- A noncompetitive award of $452,855,435.04 to Amentum Services, Inc. exists on the federal record under PIID 70CDCR26C00000016, with a period of performance from March 13 through September 30, 2026.
- GAO published GAO-26-108886 on June 9, 2026 with four recommendations, shown as open on the GAO product page.
- AP reported ICE's published justification notice describing an extension through September 30, 2027 at a potential additional cost of up to $776 million.
What it does not establish
- That the reported extension has been executed. No obligated extension amount appears on the award record read here.
- A date by which ICE must decide to extend, recompete, or end the award. No indexed source establishes one.
- That $776 million has been obligated, outlayed, or paid. It is an AP-reported potential extension value only.
- That the two deaths recorded at this facility were caused by Amentum, by this contract, or by the reported extension. Both occurred in January 2026, before the contract began on March 13, 2026.
- That the termination for convenience of the earlier contract was a finding of contractor fault. It is a government contracting action, and no reviewed record states why ICE chose it.
- That GAO's findings caused the change of operator, or that Amentum succeeded to, was assigned, or novated the earlier Acquisition Logistics contract. The two awards are separate records.
These two records are shown because the cited source names Camp East Montana as the facility. Both deaths — January 3, 2026 and January 14, 2026 — occurred before Amentum's contract began on March 13, 2026. The facility connection is established. This project does not attribute either death to Amentum, to the March 2026 award, or to the reported July 2026 extension, and the categories and caveats recorded in the harm ledger are unchanged here.
Linked receipt
70CDCR26C00000016 · $452.9M
A federal audit documented waste and standards failures at a 5,000-capacity El Paso detention camp. ICE terminated the Acquisition Logistics order for the government's convenience on April 17, 2026, GAO reports a different vendor began operating the next day, Amentum holds a sole-source award, and ICE has published a justification to extend it through September 2027 for up to $776 million more.
Institutional channels · not windows
Standing official routes. Each establishes only that the channel exists. No request, complaint, hearing, or investigation is implied.
Institutional channel · not a window
ICE FOIA records channel
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement · ICE FOIA Office
ICE operates a published FOIA request channel. Concretely requestable here: the justification for other than full and open competition behind the reported extension, contractor invoices for the period GAO audited, and the pre-occupancy inspection file GAO found missing.
What this does not establish
The official page establishes only that a request channel exists. It does not establish that any request has been filed, that a responsive record exists, that it is non-exempt, or that anything will be released.
Open official page Verified August 20, 2026Institutional channel · not a window
DHS OIG complaint intake
U.S. Department of Homeland Security · DHS Office of Inspector General
DHS OIG publishes a hotline that accepts complaints concerning DHS programs, personnel, and contractors. GAO documented contract-performance and oversight failures at this facility in GAO-26-108886.
What this does not establish
The official page establishes only that DHS OIG accepts complaints. It does not establish that any complaint has been submitted, that a submission will be investigated, or that any OIG review of this facility, contract, or death exists.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector GeneralU.S. Government Accountability OfficeOpen official page Verified August 20, 2026Institutional channel · not a window
House ICE oversight jurisdiction
U.S. House of Representatives · Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement
The subcommittee's official page states oversight jurisdiction over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That standing jurisdiction is the whole of what is established here.
What this does not establish
Standing jurisdiction only. No hearing, letter, inquiry, markup, or commitment to act on this facility, contract, or extension is established by this or any source indexed here.
Open official page Verified August 20, 2026
Unknowns and records worth obtaining
Unresolved questions, not claims. Absence from the record is not evidence of absence.
- When ICE must decide on the reported extension.
- Whether any GAO recommendation has been implemented since the last review.
- Whether DHS OIG has opened a review of this facility. No such review is established in the sources currently indexed.
- Whether any committee of jurisdiction has requested the acquisition file, the justification notice, or the recommendation implementation record for this facility. No hearing, letter, or inquiry is established in the sources currently indexed.
- The end-of-2026 figure is an agency estimate reported by GAO, not a compliance deadline. No source establishes a date by which ICE must act, and December 31, 2026 is only this project's normalized representation of that estimate.
- Whether the tiered-pricing change has been executed is not established in the sources indexed here.
- No implementation date is published for this recommendation.
- Whether ICE has since issued any implementing control beyond the existing policy it cited is not established in the sources indexed here.
- Whether the Army has begun or completed the assessment is not established in the sources indexed here.
- Whether the ICE and Office of the Chief Readiness Support Officer assessment has begun or concluded is not established in the sources indexed here.
- Whether the reported extension has been executed is not established by the records indexed here.
- The $776 million figure is an AP-reported potential extension value; no obligated amount for an extension appears on the award record read here.
- The date by which ICE must decide is not established by any source indexed here.
- Whether a modification has been signed after the August 20, 2026 review is not established here.
Institution map
Which body holds which decision. Institutions only — no personal contact routes are published here.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security
Office of the Director, ICE
GAO recommendation 1 — cost-saving mechanisms in future acquisitions
Federal
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security
Office of the Director, ICE
GAO recommendation 2 — controls for pre-occupancy inspections
Federal
Department of the Army, Department of Defense
Office of the Secretary of the Army
GAO recommendation 3 — Army assessment and lessons learned
Federal
Department of Homeland Security
Office of the Secretary of Homeland Security
GAO recommendation 4 — DHS assessment and lessons learned
Federal
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
ICE Office of Acquisition Management
Reported extension period would end September 30, 2027
Federal
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
ICE Office of Acquisition Management
Current period of performance ends September 30, 2026
Federal
Portable evidence brief
Portable intervention packet
Canonical citation
Detention Receipts. "Leverage: Camp East Montana." Last verified August 20, 2026. Primary record: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_70CDCR26C00000016_7012_-NONE-_-NONE-/
A calendar file is generated only for a date printed on a cited record. Reported or estimated period ends are not treated as deadlines.
Current period of performance ends September 30, 2026
Period-of-performance end date on the federal award record for PIID 70CDCR26C00000016. It is a period end, not a published decision date, and no source establishes when ICE must decide.
Portable intervention packet
Canonical citation
Detention Receipts. "Leverage: Camp East Montana." Last verified August 20, 2026. Primary record: https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_70CDCR26C00000016_7012_-NONE-_-NONE-/
A calendar file is generated only for a date printed on a cited record. Reported or estimated period ends are not treated as deadlines.