The US Department of Defense recently announced who would be building the nation’s largest migrant detention camp to date. But TruthOut writes those scrutinizing the billion-dollar award are crying foul. Of particular concern is the connection of the award to Nathan Albers. Activists point out that Albers previously co-owned a company that pled guilty to hiring undocumented workers and to concealing it from immigration authorities.
Exploiting undocumented workers, then profiting from their detention
Albers’ former company, TentLogix, not only hired undocumented migrant workers—it also concealed this from immigration officials. These workers were paid below minimum wage and denied legally mandated labor protections like overtime pay. These violations create a coercive environment where workers risked deportation if they dare to speak out about abuse. These are hallmark conditions of labor exploitation and trafficking.
In a disturbing twist of irony, Albers is now profiting from the very system built to detain undocumented migrants. His current company, Disaster Management Group, has already received over $500 million in government contracts and is now set to construct a detention camp at Fort Bill that will house up to 5,000 migrants. The project is part of the administration’s broader $1.2 billion plan to expand the migrant detention infrastructure—one widely criticized as violent, profit-driven, and a known site of labor abuse in itself.
Scott Shuchart, a former official with the Department of Homeland Security and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement stated:
The idea that you could use illegal labor and then sell services to ICE, the irony is thick,
Business ethics overlooked
Typically, companies who seek federal contracts must certify that they operate with a satisfactory record of business ethics. Yet, Albers’ past ties to labor and immigration violations do not disqualify him from lucrative government contracts. Scott Amey, general counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, notes that contracting officers often don’t even see violations like these.
According to Amey:
a lot of things are not required to be reported. I don’t even think (the labor and immigration violations) would appear on the radar of a contracting officer.
Sadly, the proposed camp at Fort Bliss looks to be the first of many. A spending bill that allocates $45 billion for building new migrant detention sites has already been signed. And experts say the projected camps would roughly double the country’s migrant detention capacity. They estimate the camps would allow more than 100,000 migrants to be detained up from the current 50,000.
Recent roundups underline the need for safe passage
These camps, along with increasing ICE raids, feed into a system that criminalizes migration, separates families, and puts lives at risk.
We must confront the disturbing reality that the same individuals and companies profiting from the exploitation of undocumented workers are now profiting again by detaining them. This system doesn’t just fail to protect migrant workers—it commodifies their vulnerability.
Now, more than ever, we must demand safe and legal migration pathways for all, and fight to dismantle the inhumane systems that allow exploitation and abuse to flourish under the guise of national security.
Join us in calling for a migration system rooted in dignity, safety, and human rights—not profit.
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