House Republicans are launching an investigation into the Biden administration's disbursement of billions of dollars for immigrant shelters to government contractors following a jarring admission by an official who brokered the deals.
Biden transition team official Andrew Lorenzen-Strait was caught on video this week bragging about how he used the border crisis to help unqualified organizations make backdoor deals with federal agencies and called the humanitarian crisis a "boom for my business."
"The alarming allegations of Mr. Lorenzen-Strait’s corruption and his recently recorded statements only further justify the Homeland Security Committee’s continued oversight of ICE’s suspect contract procurement processes," said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) in a statement to the Washington Examiner. "Awarding massive, sole-source contracts for illegal immigrant services to ill-equipped non-profits such as Endeavors, possibly because of connections to President Biden’s 2020 transition team, could prove to be an unacceptable abuse of taxpayer funds, and ICE must answer for these allegations.”
Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement Chairman Clay Higgins (R-LA) and Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability Chairman Dan Bishop (R-NC) joined Green to call on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to turn over years worth of documents and communications about an $87 million deal to house immigrants at the border in hotels instead of existing government-owned family residential centers. The Washington Examiner first reported the no-bid contract in April 2021.
The incident has resurfaced after Project Veritas published videos of Lorenzen-Strait talking at length about his Endeavors winning contracts.
At the time of the $87 million deal, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General responded by launching a yearlong investigation into the award from ICE to Endeavors. It concluded in April 2022 that the contract was unjustified and that Endeavors pocketed $17 million of funds it failed to use.
The inspector general also concluded that ICE had never put out a notice to contractors that it needed to rent space to house immigrant families. Endeavors sent ICE a proposal that stated it could house immigrants, an unusual offering given that ICE had not disclosed any need for housing. --->READ MORE HERE
 |
| Mario Tama/Getty Images |
House Republicans will now investigate claims from a Biden official after he reportedly said he made backroom deals with federal agencies, calling the migrant crisis a “boom for business.”
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) told the Washington Examiner:
The alarming allegations of Mr. [Andrew] Lorenzen-Strait’s corruption and his recently recorded statements only further justify the Homeland Security Committee’s continued oversight of ICE’s suspect contract procurement processes. Awarding massive, sole-source contracts for illegal immigrant services to ill-equipped non-profits such as Endeavors, possibly because of connections to President Biden’s 2020 transition team, could prove to be an unacceptable abuse of taxpayer funds, and ICE must answer for these allegations.
Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement Chairman Clay Higgins (R-LA) and Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability Chairman Dan Bishop (R-NC) echoed Green’s call to have Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hand over communications about an $87 million deal to house migrants at the border in hotels instead of government-owned residential centers.
The issue surrounding the contract resurfaced last week after Project Veritas said reported that Biden transition official Andrew Lorenzen-Strait bragged about how he made backroom deals with federal agencies and called the migrant crisis a “boom for business.” --->READ MORE HERE
If you like what you see, please "Like" and/or Follow us on FACEBOOK here, GETTR here, and TWITTER here.
No comments:
Post a Comment