EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed engineering and technology services company Amentum Services Inc. will now be the new contractor responsible for managing El Paso’s Camp East Montana, the largest immigration detention facility in the country.

In a statement on Monday, an ICE spokesperson confirmed to KFOX14/CBS4 that Amentum Services Inc. will be taking over as the primary contractor for the detention facility, replacing the previous contractor, Acquisition Logistics LLC. Amentum Services was initially the subcontractor for the facility.

“Amentum has been a close partner with ICE in managing Camp East Montana and was best suited to take over as the prime government contractor for this facility. Amentum’s size, maturity, and pedigree make them the right partner at the right time, and we will work closely with them in their implementation of higher standards of medical care, more thorough case processing and intake procedures, and delivery of performance requirements according to well-defined accountability measures,” an ICE spokesperson said.

ICE added that it “will continue to ensure that all of the detainees in our custody receive the level of care, service, and medical support they need to match our high detention standards.”

KFOX14/CBS4 has reached out to Amentum Services via email for comment.

According to federal spending records, Amentum Services has been awarded a contract worth $452.9 billion that has been in effect since March 13 and will run through Sept. 30 as the company is set to “provide detention, transportation, and medical services at the Camp East Montana temporary detention center.”

The new contractor comes after ICE said it had decided to end its contract with Richmond, Virginia-based company, Acquisition Logistics LLC, which was hired last July for $1.2 billion to build and operate the detention facility with a contract that was initially set to expire on Sept. 30, 2027.

However, federal spending records also show a separate contract with Acquisition Logistics LLC with an obligated amount of about $598.4 million.

The change in contractors comes after a Washington Post report earlier this month suggested the facility could face closure amid scrutiny over its contract.

However, as KFOX14/CBS4 previously reported, ICE had said it would not be closing the detention facility, but was evaluating Acquisition Logistics LLC’s contract and Camp East Montana to make sure that it is meeting standards.

While ICE did not provide a reason for the change in contractors, it said that the contract was reportedly inherited from the Department of War and promised that conditions in the facility would improve.

“ICE has contracted with a new provider following [Department of Homeland Security] Secretary [Kristi] Noem’s termination of the old contract inherited from the Department of War. ICE is always looking at ways to improve our detention facilities to ensure we are providing the best care to illegal aliens in our custody,” an ICE spokesperson previously said in an emailed statement to KFOX14/CBS4.

ICE added, “This new contractor will allow Camp East Montana to continue abiding by the highest detention standards, with the ability to provide MORE medical care on-site. This contract also allows more on-site staff and a PRECISE quality assurance surveillance plan. ICE will have even more oversight of the contractors at this facility. Far from closing, Camp East Montana is upgrading.”

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However, the change follows several deaths at the facility. Since mid-December, three people have died at Camp East Montana, which was built last year to house thousands of immigrants. One of those deaths, the Jan. 3 death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, originally from Cuba, was ruled a homicide by “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression,” according to an autopsy report obtained by KFOX14/CBS4.

The facility has also experienced outbreaks of measles and tuberculosis, which resulted in Camp East Montana being placed under quarantine after 14 active cases of measles were reported.

In a previous emailed statement to KFOX14/CBS4, El Paso Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, who has continually expressed concerns over the conditions at Camp East Montana, said that while she hopes an investigation into the previous contractor is made, she remains concerned for the conditions at the detention facility.

“While I’m relieved that Acquisition Logistics has been fired by DHS, they should also be investigated for the fraud they’ve perpetrated on the American taxpayer. Whether the new contractor is an improvement remains to be seen, and I remain deeply concerned about the chronic substandard conditions that exist at Camp East Montana. That tent facility should be shuttered, and ICE’s plan to literally warehouse 8500 human beings in Socorro should be terminated,” Escobar said.

Advocacy groups also say changing contractors does not necessarily address the concerns they have raised about conditions inside the facility.

“Obviously, what this represents is a new challenge for our communities, knowing that this camp is going to continue operating,” Alan Lizarraga, communications manager with Border Network for Human Rights, told KFOX14/CBS4.

Who is Amentum Services?

Amentum Service, a Virginia-based company, has been a subcontractor at Camp East Montana since its construction.

According to the Amentum Services website, the company is known for its work in nuclear operations, government services, and defense support, as it operates as a major contractor for multiple intelligence and military agencies.

The company also has a history of working with the Department of Homeland Security. In 2022, Amentum was awarded a five-year, $260 million contract by the DHS to develop and deploy technologies to enhance border security.

Who was the previous contractor?

In July 2025, it was announced that the Army contract was awarded to Acquisition Logistics LLC, an unknown company that has no public record of ever managing an immigration facility.

At the time, the company’s website offered nothing but a login page.

Meanwhile, government contract records online only describe the company as a veteran-owned, SBA-certified small disadvantaged business.

The Virginia Corporation Commission doesn’t reveal much about the business’s history either, only that it was formed in 2008 and that it operates out of a quiet house in the Richmond suburbs.

KFOX14/CBS4 tried getting a hold of Ken Wagner, the president of Acquisition Logistics, but was not able to make contact with anyone at the company.

KFOX14/CBS4 also questioned Noem about the company during her visit to see the border wall in Santa Teresa.

But Noem did not provide clear answers:

“Well, most of that construction and those contracts go through the Department of Homeland Security, except for the ones that are on military installations. And so that is a DOD project that we’re working on in partnership with, which President Trump has committed to having a whole-of-government approach.”

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