PHOENIX — ICE awarded Endeavors, a religious-based humanitarian organization from San Antonio, Texas an $87-million dollar contract to provide temporary shelter and processing services for families who have not been immediately expelled from the U.S. but will be assigned an immigration hearing.
Endeavors has taken control of seven hotels, five in Texas and two in Phoenix, in order to supply more than 1,200 hotel beds.
A hotel along Interstate 10 in southeast Phoenix is now a rest stop for a different sort of traveler. Buses from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Services are parked in the back while an empty parking lot in the front is filled with security guards on patrol, and the first immigrant families have been dropped off.
According to ICE, families will receive a comprehensive health assessment which includes COVID-19 testing, and if positive, they will be placed in quarantine. The average stay for everyone else will be less than 72 hours, according to ICE.
During their stay, families will receive three meals a day, clothing and use of the pool or other amenities the hotel has to offer. Transportation services to the airport or bus terminal will be provided once a sponsor is identified.
In 2019, ICE dropped off so many immigrants at Greyhound bus stations, mainly in Phoenix, the company stopped allowing the immigrants inside unless they had a ticket.
No word on how Endeavors or ICE will avoid a similar situation when it’s time for the guests to move on.
Endeavors has not responded to our request for comment.
