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The Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau has decided to hire an Alaska Native corporation to take over detention center food service work currently performed by dozens of federal employees.

Fifty-six ICE food service employees at detention centers in Miami; Los Angeles; Los Fresnos and El Paso, Texas; Florence, Ariz.; and El Centro, Calif., will be replaced by ANC workers, according to a notice posted earlier this month on the Federal Business Opportunities Web site. The decision was made after the agency conducted a streamlined public-private job competition, in which officials decided after completing market research that it would be best to outsource the work.

Officials then announced in the notice early this month that, rather than soliciting proposals from all interested private sector companies, they would give the work to an Alaska Native firm. These companies are considered disadvantaged and allowed to bypass some of the normal competitive procedures required to win federal contracts.

The White House has encouraged agencies to let contractors bid on federal work considered commercial in nature, with the goal of improving efficiency and saving money. But sources familiar with ICE's recent streamlined competition for food services work said the decision to go with an Alaska Native company undermines the premise of the effort.

"ICE is not required to even show that this type of contractor is cheaper or better than federal employees, so the results of the ... competition don't matter, much less the way it was conducted," said one person at the Homeland Security Department, who spoke under the condition of anonymity. ICE is part of DHS.

But ICE spokeswoman Julie Zuieback said agency officials anticipate that the change will save $5 million over three years.

"There are job opportunities for affected employees elsewhere in ICE," Zuieback said. "Additionally, the employees will be given right of first refusal by the contractor in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations. These require the contractor to first consider an affected employee who has applied for the job and to give that employee a job if he or she is qualified."

Zuieback said the agency is currently negotiating the food services deal.

A separate agency source predicted that officials may have a difficult time making a smooth transition to a contract workforce.

"I foresee disturbances likely to occur after the new contractors take over," said the source, who also spoke under the condition of anonymity. "One of the primary reasons inmates [and] detainees riot is the quality of the food service. Contract employees will be held to strict time limits, [and] the quality and quantity will surely suffer as a result."

COMMENTS

• This is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s no secret the ICE reconstruction plan takes ICE Agents (legacy INS detention officers) out of detention centers into the field with a different mission all together. ICE claims that this is about saving money. Let's be truthful; the DRO A-76 Study was just a smoke screen. ICE has a different agenda all together. The big plan is to relinquish themselves from operating their detention facilities. If you look deep enough you will see the proposed company can or is able to sub-contract everything that is needed to run a detention facility. First to go will be the food services, then maintenance operations will be next. After that, you can anticipate other support programs to disappear. Contract security is already providing all 80% of inside operations, and, this new company can easily absorb that. Secondly, the affected cooks were hired under a 6-C covered retirement plan. This is because they work in a hazardous environment and 80% of their time is spent in the presence of detainees. ICE has recently said that these positions were no longer considered an inherently governmental function. How can this be? ICE cooks perform the same functions as the Bureau of Prison cooks, except ICE has never provided their cook’s with academy style training. ICE cooks follow National Detention Standards, much of which mirrors the BOP standards. ICE’s declaration that these jobs are no longer inherently governmental caused the loss of fifty-seven loyal employees. Unlike Julie Zuieback’s predictions, I foresee ICE having increased costs and a contract inundated with modifications. P.S. BOP still considers their cook positions inherently governmental! GovExec.com reader Posted March 3, 2007 2:45 AM
• I wonder if this is the multi-million dollar Native Alaskan company that took the contracts for Hurricane Katrina temporary housing from local small businesses. I appreciate and support minority-owned business requirements, but like an earlier comment said, this may be a front for exploitive real owners. GovExec.com reader Posted February 28, 2007 4:49 PM
• Yes, absolutely HR. Food service and food service management is clearly an inherently governmental function that should only be performed by federal employees! I mean, after all, who can trust contractors -- much less contractors who are overseen by Federal employees -- to perform cost-effectively? And competition - God forbid that federal employees should compete or -- dare we say -- have their performance and costs compared to alternative sources of performance for these services. This is America after all, not some third world communist nation. Some more balanced reporting might help. No conversions are authorized unless savings are realized and I would be willing to bet that performance expectations are a least as good as the historical levels performed by Federal employees. What an awful expenditure of government funds and energy! GovExec.com reader Posted February 28, 2007 9:04 AM