Lawmakers ask watchdog to probe migrant teen camp’s contract

MIAMI (AP) — Three Democratic lawmakers are requesting a government watchdog agency investigate how a private company tied to former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly secured a no-bid contract to hold migrant children in a Florida facility.

South Florida U.S. representatives Donna Shalala, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell sent a letter to the Office of Inspector General in the Health and Human Services Department on Tuesday. They asked to probe Kelly’s role in the contract negotiations given he was a board member by the umbrella company Caliburn International.

Caliburn’s subsidiary Comprehensive Health Services was recently awarded a $341 million contract in a no-bid phase to expand the facility in Homestead, Florida. Previous contracts were given in a competitive process.

About 2,500 teens are held there after crossing the border unaccompanied.