Floating the floating prison idea: We reported on this lame-brained idea when it was first mentioned in June. The suggestion to house detainees on cruise ships came in response to Customs and Border Patrol managers asking their departments for suggestions on how to handle the predictable surge in detainees once illegal immigration is deemed, well, really double-illegal.
Now, what was only a brainstorming idea last month has come back to haunt Michael Chertoff — and no doubt make him wish for a hurricane just to deflect attention — in the form of a letter from two high-ranking House Democrats asking him to, in effect, explain the half-baked notion.
Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., are requesting, in addition to an explanation of why the idea of using cruise ships is even being countenanced as well as why a questionable contract was awarded to a Halliburton subsidiary to build border detention facilities. Here are some excerpts from the letter:
According to a recent account on GovExec.com, Customs and Border Protection “is considering a variety of methods to accommodate what is expected to be a surge in illegal immigrants detained, including holding those arrested on ships to await trial.” One option under active consideration, according to this account, is “buying out-of-service cruise ships or leasing them to create ‘detention barges’ at sea.” These ships “would act as jails, housing alleged violators of U.S. immigration law.”
If accurate, this report raises several red flags.
Recent experience shows that using cruise ships for temporary housing is enormously expensive. In September 2005, the Military Sealift Command, acting on behalf of FEMA, awarded Carnival Cruise Lines three contracts worth a combined $236 million to provide temporary housing to Hurricane Katrina evacuees and emergency personnel. Under these contracts, the federal government paid more than $50,000 to house a single person for six months, almost $300 per person for each night’s lodging (nearly $600 per night double occupancy). As Congressman Lynch pointed out at a recent Committee hearing, it would have been cheaper to rent a suite at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, a two-bedroom apartment at Trump World Tower in New York City, or Fanningstown Castle in Ireland than to house evacuees on cruise ships under the contract with Carnival.
Waxman and Lynch ignore the fact that the Carnival ships were used for housing first responders in New Orleans — on-site where they were needed — not in Las Vegas. But why confuse them with the facts when they are having so much fun picking on Chertoff.
To assist Congress in its oversight of federal spending, we request that you confirm whether the Department is again considering the use of cruise ships to provide temporary housing. If the report is accurate, we further request that you explain what lessons the Department has learned from the experience after Hurricane Katrina and what steps the Department will take to prevent a repeat of the wasteful spending on cruise ships that occurred then. We also request copies of any documents relating to the possible use of cruise ships to house illegal immigrants.
Ouch! We know what documents can do to one’s credibility, eh, Brownie? But wait, there’s more:
In January, the Army Corps of Engineers, on behalf of the Department, awarded Halliburton subsidiary KBR a $385 million contract for “establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to augment existing … facilities” and to “provide migrant detention support.” This contract “provides for planning and, if required, initiation of specific engineering, construction and logistics support to establish, operate and maintain one or more expansion facilities.”
As the recent report Dollars, Not Sense: Government Contracting Under the Bush Administration released by Congressman Waxman documents, Halliburton’s recent track record as a government contractor in Iraq has been marred by “egregious overcharges” and questioned and unsupported costs in excess of $1 billion. It is unclear how this performance record was taken into consideration in the award of the January contract for detention facilities and what steps the Department and the Corps of Engineers plan to take prevent a recurrence of the waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement that have characterized the Halliburton contracts in Iraq.
For these reasons, we also request (1) the documents relating to Halliburton’s bid and selection for the detention center contract and (2) an explanation of what audit and other oversight mechanisms will be applied to the Halliburton contract to protect taxpayer interests.
Dang, that almost makes us feel sympathy for Chertoff — not! This is clearly just another instance of more cronyism, waste and incompetence inside one of the biggest departments in the gubmint.
Stay tuned for Chertoff’s response, which he’s supposed to supply by July 19.
