ICE Bidder Improperly Excluded for Lapsed Contract Registration

Amergis Healthcare Staffing Inc. showed that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement improperly eliminated its bid to provide medical services to detainees in several Texas facilities, the Government Accountability Office said in a decision released Thursday.

Eliminating Amergis—formerly known as Maxim Healthcare Staffing Services Inc.—from the task order procurement because of a temporary lapse in its System for Award Management registration was unreasonable because the solicitation didn’t include a Federal Acquisition Regulation provision covering registration, and it didn’t tell bidders they would be ineligible if their registration wasn’t active at the time of bid submission, the GAO said.

ICE should terminate ...