Looking to the Future, Halliburton On Call for Immigration Crackdown

Halliburton construction and engineering subsidiary KBR is also benefiting from the escalating crackdown on immigrants. ICE has awarded KBR an “indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity” contingency contract to support ICE in the event of an immigration emergency. Halliburton says that the $385-million contract provides for “establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the United States, or to support the rapid development of new programs.” The 2006 five-year contract represents the continuation of a 2000-2005 contract. According to Halliburton, under the terms of the contract the company, the company may also provide “migrant detention support” to other unnamed U.S.-government organizations “in the event of an immigration emergency.” In addition, Halliburton may be asked to develop a plan to react to a national emergency. “We are especially gratified to be awarded this contract because it builds on our extremely strong track record in the arena of emergency operations support,” said KBR vice president Bruce Stanski, “We look forward to continuing the good work we have been doing to support our customer whenever and wherever we are needed.” DHS awarded the contract to Halliburton despite the controversy of Halliburton’s unsubstantiated billing for its Iraq reconstruction contracts. The company also came under public and congressional scrutiny because of accusations that VP Dick Cheney helped Halliburton obtain the Iraq contracts. Cheney was Halliburton’s president before being elected vice president.