ICE awards no-bid contract for deportation flights, won't comment on foreign 'detention' facilities
The Redoubt previously reported that ICE was looking for a flight contractor that could also help it establish "international staging areas."
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A Missouri-based charter flight company that has been facilitating deportations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been awarded a no-bid contract worth at least $215 million to operate a fleet of "government furnished aircraft," journalist Gillian Brockell reports.
Eastern Air Express, which operates its own fleet of a dozen Boeing aircraft, was handed the contract on Aug. 12. The contract is for one year, records show, but could be extended until Feb. 2028 and ultimately worth up to $327.9 million.
The contractor, headquartered in Kansas City, has been known to be carrying out removal flights for ICE, previously as a subcontractor for CSI Aviation. In an Aug. 13 report, Human Rights First, a nonprofit watchdog, noted that Eastern Air Express has "operated deportation flights carrying third country nationals to African countries, including 31 individuals to the Central African Republic, 30 to Ghana, and 12 to Sierra Leone."
But previous removals have largely been carried out using private aircraft. In a July 28 report, for example, The Dallas Morning News published a photo of a shackled man — one of an estimated 25 ICE detainees — boarding a Boeing 737-800 with "EASTERN AIR" clearly written on the side.
As Brockell notes, the use of "government furnished aircraft" in this latest contract appears to be a reference to the planes that the Department of Homeland Security purchased last year for a total of $464 million. But there's another, potential aspect of the deal that goes beyond operating and maintaining aircraft.
Charles R. Davis
Last month, The Redoubt exclusively revealed that ICE was looking for contractors that could operate a fleet of government aircraft, including seven "Boeing 737-700's or equivalent" — the same number that DHS purchased last year.
A draft "Statement of Work" attached to that opportunity said ICE was also looking for the contractor to help it set up "international staging areas," or "detention" facilities, that could each hold up to 1,000 people.
The Trump administration has declined to comment on that potential aspect of the deal.
DHS previously asked The Redoubt to delay publication of its story on foreign staging facilities, stating in a July 12 email that it was "actively working" on a response. On July 17, a spokesperson for ICE likewise said that the agency was "[r]unning it by our staff now."
The Redoubt followed up with ICE on Aug. 14. This story will be updated if it hears back.
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