A recently discovered government request for “escort services for unaccompanied alien children” dating back to January is raising questions about whether the government was planning for a surge of illegal immigrants this year as amnesty talks heated up in the United States.
The request specifically says it was preparing for 65,000 undocumented children.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed the request to TheBlaze, which is for transportation companies to escort children from the U.S.-Mexico border to relocation facilities throughout the United States. The conservative website Weasel Zippers was among the first to notice it.
(Source: FedBizOpps.Gov
Image source: fbo.gov
The application, dated Jan. 29, is posted on Federal Business Opportunities, a website that advertises government contract openings.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has a continuing and mission critical responsibility for accepting custody of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) from U.S. Border Patrol and other Federal agencies and transporting these juveniles to Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelters located throughout the continental United States,” a description of the request reads.
It goes on to add specifics, including how many minors the agency is expecting:
Transport will be required for either category of [Unaccompanied Minors] or individual juveniles, to include both male and female juveniles. There will be approximately 65,000 UAC in total: 25 percent local ground transport, 25 percent via ICE charter and 50 percent via commercial air. Escort services include, but are not limited to, assisting with: transferring physical custody of UAC  [Unaccompanied Alien Children] from DHS to Health and Human Services (HHS) care via ground or air methods of transportation (charter or commercial carrier).
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez confirmed the authenticity of the document to TheBlaze but could not immediately respond to detailed questions. ICE officials said they would contact TheBlaze with more information as it becomes available.
According to the document, ICE was “seeking the services of a responsible vendor that shares the philosophy of treating all UAC with dignity and respect, while adhering to standard operating procedures and policies that allow for an effective, efficient, and incident free transport.”
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