The US Department of Defense recently announced who would be building the nation’s largest migrant detention camp to date. But TruthOut writes those scrutinizing the billion-dollar award are crying foul. Of particular concern is the connection of the award to Nathan Albers. Activists point out that Albers previously co-owned a company that pled guilty to hiring undocumented workers and to concealing it from immigration authorities.

Exploiting undocumented workers, then profiting from their detention

Albers’ former company, TentLogix, not only hired undocumented migrant workers—it also concealed this from immigration officials. These workers were paid below minimum wage and denied legally mandated labor protections like overtime pay. These violations create a coercive environment where workers risked deportation if they dare to speak out about abuse. These are hallmark conditions of labor exploitation and trafficking.

In a disturbing twist of irony, Albers is now profiting from the very system built to detain undocumented migrants. His current company, Disaster Management Group, has already received over $500 million in government contracts and is now set to construct a detention camp at Fort Bill that will house up to 5,000 migrants. The project is part of the administration’s broader $1.2 billion plan to expand the migrant detention infrastructure—one widely criticized as violent, profit-driven, and a known site of labor abuse in itself.

Scott Shuchart, a former official with the Department of Homeland Security and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement stated:

The idea that you could use illegal labor and then sell services to ICE, the irony is thick,

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