ICE seeks to open the call center by the end of March and be fully operational by June. It requests information on the number of interested vendors and what technology they can use to “maximize call efficiency.”
ICE also issued another notice seeking information on vendors able to transport thousands of detainees daily from across Texas, where a new state law taking effect next year mandates all counties with a jail enter into ICE partnerships.
Hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied minor children have traveled to the U.S. southern border in recent years. When they enter the country, Border Patrol transfers the children to the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement which houses them in a network of shelters across the country. They can be released from the shelter system to stay with sponsors who are generally parents, relatives or family friends.
The ICE notice did not specify why the greater Nashville area was chosen as the intended site. But CoreCivic Inc., one of the largest private detention contractors in the U.S., is headquartered there. The company, which has donated millions to GOP candidates at all levels of government, has benefited from a surge in ICE contracts.
A spokesperson for CoreCivic spokesperson did not comment on whether it would be contracted for the call center.
ICE is also searching for vendors capable of transporting detainees from anywhere in Texas, including hospitals, private residences and traffic stops, to one of 36 different ICE offices within 30 minutes.
ICE said it anticipates six trips daily transporting around 30 detainees in SUVs under armed guard from regional hubs near each county jail, according to federal contracting documents. The vendor would be required to establish its own transport hubs within six months of receiving a contract.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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