A Kansas tribe terminated its involvement in a federal contract to design large-scale migrant detention centers, a tribal leader announced Wednesday.
In a recorded address, chairman of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Tribal Council Joseph Rupnick said the Nation and its subsidiaries have fully separated from a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The contract was a source of scrutiny for the tribe, and Rupnick’s announcement came less than a week after he expressed his heartbreak, drawing parallels between immigrant detention and America’s history of forced removal of Native Americans. Some members of the Tribe’s leadership were part of the company that contracted with ICE, KBP Services, and were subsequently fired for their involvement. The company was a subsidiary of the tribe’s business arm, Prairie Band LLC.
“I’m very happy to share that our Nation has successfully exited all third-party related interests affiliated with ICE,” Rupnick said in the address. “As a result, Prairie Band, LLC is no longer a direct or indirect owner or participant in, or otherwise affiliated with, any ICE-related projects, contracts or operations.”
A spokesperson for the Tribe did not immediately respond to questions from Kansas Reflector.
A federal database showed the $30 million contract between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and KPB Services, an affiliate of the tribe, was still active as of Thursday morning.
The contract asked KPB Services to conduct “due diligence” and “concept design for processing centers and mega centers throughout the United States.” The contract was last modified Dec. 5, adding an additional facility and adjusting the period of performance.
Rupnick said the Prairie Band Tribal Council will discuss at its upcoming January meeting “the steps we will take to ensure that our Nation’s economic interests do not come into conflict with our values in the future.”
This story was originally published by the Kansas Reflector.
