CBP will continue transporting illegal immigrants back to Mexico by bus

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it plans to issue a Request For Proposal (RFP), under “full and open competition,” for a commercial company to supply secure bus transportation, medical escort and guard services for the hundreds of detainees who are picked up along the U.S.-Mexican border by Border Patrol agents each day and transported either back to Mexico, another home country, or to a nearby U.S. medical facility.

G4S, of Jupiter, FL, has been awarded a CBP contract in the past to perform such transportation, escort and guard services at numerous locations along the Southwest border.

CBP says it apprehends an average of 897 detainees each day, who require such transportation and guard services.

“CBP projects a continued requirement for approximately 450,000 hours of vehicle operational hours and 735,000 hours of labor operational hours over the course of each year to transport and guard the illegal aliens from their points of apprehension until they are returned to their country of origin for repatriation or transferred to another agency for long-term detention,” says the agency’s presolicitation notice.

 CBP envisions a one-year base contract plus four one-year option periods, which would include a mix of firm fixed price, time and material, and cost reimbursable line items.

The notice points out that the bus driver may sometimes be asked to “multi-task” as a “facility or medical escort guard.”

The new contract will cover nine Southwest Border Sectors in four different states: California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, says the notice.

Further information is available from Shaun Saad at 202-344-1971 or Shaun.Saad@dhs.gov.