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Ed Pastor voted for endgame detention centers

Halliburton Subsidiary Gets Contract to Add Temporary Immigration Detention Centers

By RACHEL L. SWARNS, NYTimes
Published: February 4, 2006
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 — The Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a contract worth up to $385 million for building temporary immigration detention centers to Kellogg Brown & Root, the Halliburton subsidiary that has been criticized for overcharging the Pentagon for its work in Iraq.

KBR would build the centers for the Homeland Security Department for an unexpected influx of immigrants, to house people in the event of a natural disaster or for new programs that require additional detention space, company executives said. KBR, which announced the contract last month, had a similar contract with immigration agencies from 2000 to last year.

The contract with the Corps of Engineers runs one year, with four optional one-year extensions. Officials of the corps said that they had solicited bids and that KBR was the lone responder.

A spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Jamie Zuieback, said KBR would build the centers only in an emergency like the one when thousands of Cubans floated on rafts to the United States. She emphasized that the centers might never be built if such an emergency did not arise.

"It's the type of contract that could be used in some kind of mass migration," Ms. Zuieback said.

A spokesman for the corps, Clayton Church, said that the centers could be at unused military sites or temporary structures and that each one would hold up to 5,000 people.

"When there's a large influx of people into the United States, how are we going to feed, house and protect them?" Mr. Church asked. "That's why these kinds of contracts are there."

Mr. Church said that KBR did not end up creating immigration centers under its previous contract, but that it did build temporary shelters for Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

Federal auditors rebuked the company for unsubstantiated billing in its Iraq reconstruction contracts, and it has been criticized because of accusations that Halliburton, led by Dick Cheney before he became vice president, was aided by connections in obtaining contracts. Halliburton executives denied that they charged excessively for the work in Iraq.

Mr. Church said concerns about the Iraq contracts did not affect the awarding of the new contract.

Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, who has monitored the company, called the contract worrisome.

"With Halliburton's ever expanding track record of overcharging, it's hard to believe that the administration has decided to entrust Halliburton with even more taxpayer dollars," Mr. Waxman said. "With each new contract, the need for real oversight grows."

In recent months, the Homeland Security Department has promised to increase bed space in its detention centers to hold thousands of illegal immigrants awaiting deportation. In the first quarter of the 2006 fiscal year, nearly 60 percent of the illegal immigrants apprehended from countries other than Mexico were released on their own recognizance.

Domestic security officials have promised to end the releases by increasing the number of detention beds. Last week, domestic security officials announced that they would expand detaining and swiftly deporting illegal immigrants to include those seized near the Canadian border.

Advocates for immigrants said they feared that the new contract was another indication that the government planned to expand the detention of illegal immigrants, including those seeking asylum.

"It's pretty obvious that the intent of the government is to detain more and more people and to expedite their removal," said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center in Miami.

Ms. Zuieback said the KBR contract was not intended for that.

"It's not part of any day-to-day enforcement," she said.

She added that she could not provide additional information about the company's statement that the contract was also meant to support the rapid development of new programs.

Halliburton executives, who announced the contract last week, said they were pleased.

"We are especially gratified to be awarded this contract," an executive vice president, Bruce Stanski, said in a statement, "because it builds on our extremely strong track record in the arena of emergency management support."

 

Public-housing vacancy rate in Phoenix tumbles

How many units are occupied by Hispanics?

Casey Newton
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 27, 2008 12:00 AM

Hundreds of low-income families have safer, more affordable housing now that Phoenix has successfully reduced a vacancy rate in its public-housing program that was double the national average.

After months of effort, the Housing Department announced last week that 2.6 percent of its units are vacant, down from a high of 10.3 percent last May.

The drop in vacancies came after a July investigation by The Arizona Republic showed the number of empty units in Phoenix was substantially higher than other major cities. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development pushes cities to keep the vacancy rate below 5 percent. Other cities of Phoenix's size have vacancy rates ranging from 1.5 percent to 3 percent.

"This translates to over 150 additional families that have safe, affordable and clean housing today who otherwise would not," wrote Kim Dorney, the housing director, in a memo to the City Council.

Of the city's 2,441 units, just 64 are empty. That's down from 250 in July.

The city attributed the gains to the hiring of temporary workers last year to process applications, interview applicants and prepare units for occupancy. They also developed a program to help applicants pay their security deposit, which has allowed some families to move in more quickly.

"You've made a difference in a lot of people's lives," Councilwoman Peggy Neely told the housing staff at a City Council meeting Tuesday.

The question now is how Phoenix will maintain an acceptable vacancy rate amid tough budget cuts that will affect every department in the city.

Phoenix is trimming 6 percent from its general-fund budget to compensate for decreasing sales-tax revenues.

With much of the housing success credited to temporary workers, Housing Department officials are pushing to use general-fund money to convert some temporary workers to full-time employees.

Phoenix spent $775,000 on temps last year. The money runs out June 30.

Deputy City Manager Ed Zuercher said the Housing Department would need fewer temporary staffers after June 30 because the bulk of the vacancy problem has been addressed. In addition to making some temps permanent, officials will also consider extending temps for another year.

Housing Director Kim Dorney told the City Council this week that her staff will be aided by a new computer system scheduled to be put into place this year. It will replace a creaky 15-year-old system that has contributed to inefficiencies in the department, she said.

The goal is to move more of the estimated 13,000 people on the waiting list for public housing into the relatively few units available. Although it has the nation's fifth-largest population, Phoenix ranked 59th among U.S. cities in 2006 in the number of public-housing units for rent.

To qualify for public housing, applicants must make 30 percent of Phoenix's median income or less - $12,650 for a single person, $18,050 for a family of four.

The average person living in Phoenix public housing earns $11,000 a year. A disproportionate number of the residents are children and the elderly.

Problems mounted beginning three years ago, when Phoenix laid off 30 percent of its Housing Department staff. In the aftermath of budget cuts, the reduced staff was unable to quickly refurbish units after they were vacated or to process applications in a reasonable amount of time.

Council members lauded the staff Tuesday for what Councilman Tom Simplot called a "Herculean effort" to improve the vacancy rate.

The department's success also seemed to put to rest for now discussion of eliminating the department or absorbing its functions into other city departments.

"It is critically important that the city of Phoenix has a housing department," Councilman Greg Stanton said. "We're definitely headed in the right direction."