The federal government spent $18 million every month to keep a migrant housing facility in Pecos, Texas operational. The building sat completely empty for 11 months before the contract was terminated in February 2025.
Family Endeavors, a San Antonio nonprofit, received the payments under a $530 million agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services. The doge hhs migrant housing contract became a flashpoint when the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency exposed the arrangement and pushed for its cancellation.
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From Crisis Response to Costly Standby
HHS awarded Family Endeavors the contract in March 2021 during a surge of unaccompanied children crossing the southern border. The Pecos facility could house 3,000 minors and was designed as overflow capacity when regular shelters filled up.
But by March 2024, the building stood empty. Border crossings had declined sharply. Licensed migrant shelters nationwide were running below 20% capacity. The emergency that justified the Pecos facility had passed.
HHS continued paying Family Endeavors $18 million monthly through early 2025. The contract required the nonprofit to maintain “cold status” readiness, keeping the facility staffed and operational even with zero occupants.
Contract timeline:
- March 2021: HHS awards $530 million sole-source contract
- March 2021 to March 2023: Facility houses migrant children
- September 2023 to February 2024: Facility reopens briefly
- March 2024: Building becomes vacant
- February 2025: Contract terminated
No Competition for Half-Billion Dollar Deal
HHS bypassed competitive bidding to award the contract. The agency used sole-source procurement, giving the deal directly to Family Endeavors without allowing other organizations to compete.
Family Endeavors had never run a migrant housing facility before receiving this contract. The nonprofit’s annual budget in 2020 was around $50 million. The HHS contract alone was worth more than ten times that amount.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General examined a separate $87 million contract that ICE awarded to Family Endeavors around the same time. Investigators found that Endeavors had submitted an unsolicited proposal despite lacking experience in these services. ICE officials approved the sole-source award without documenting whether the nonprofit could actually perform the work.
The Inspector General’s April 2022 report concluded that ICE wasted at least $17 million on hotel rooms and services that went largely unused.
Biden Transition Official Joins Nonprofit, Contracts Follow
Andrew Lorenzen-Strait worked on President Biden’s transition team and previously served as an ICE official. On January 20, 2021, Biden’s first day in office, Family Endeavors announced hiring Lorenzen-Strait as Senior Director for Migrant Services and Federal Affairs.
Two months later, Family Endeavors secured the $530 million HHS contract. The nonprofit also received the $87 million ICE contract during this same period.
House Oversight Committee Republicans questioned the timing. The contracts came just weeks after hiring someone with direct connections to the incoming administration. The size of the awards, combined with Endeavors’ lack of comparable experience, raised concerns about procurement practices.
In August 2023, Project Veritas released undercover video footage of Lorenzen-Strait discussing government contracts for migrant services. He referred to what appeared to be the Endeavors arrangement as a “corrupt bargain.” Lorenzen-Strait had resigned from Family Endeavors a year earlier in September 2022.
Congressional investigators requested documents and communications between Lorenzen-Strait and his former ICE colleagues who were involved in contract approval decisions.
Financial Growth Under Federal Contracts
Family Endeavors’ cash and investment portfolio jumped from $8.3 million in 2020 to $520.4 million in 2023. The nonprofit’s revenue hit $1.1 billion in 2022.
According to reporting by The Free Press, 99.6% of Family Endeavors’ income came from government contracts. The organization went from a regional faith-based charity helping veterans and disaster victims to a major federal contractor almost overnight.
DOGE Flags Empty Facility, Terminates Contract
The Department of Government Efficiency, announced by President Trump in November 2024 and established by executive order in January 2025, made the Pecos facility one of its early targets.
DOGE posted on social media in late February 2025 that HHS had been paying Family Endeavors $18 million monthly for an empty building. The post highlighted that national occupancy at migrant shelters had fallen below 20%, making the standby facility unnecessary.
HHS terminated the contract shortly after DOGE’s public criticism. DOGE claimed the cancellation would save taxpayers $215 million annually. Some independent budget analysts disputed that figure, calculating savings closer to $126 million based on the number of months remaining in the contract.
The Department of Homeland Security reposted DOGE’s findings and asked Ed Martin, then serving as interim US Attorney for Washington, DC, to investigate. Martin responded publicly: “Duly noted. We are on it.”
Martin had previously written public letters pledging his office’s resources to support DOGE’s work and investigate anyone who impeded their efforts.
Family Endeavors Says It Followed Contract Terms
The nonprofit defended its role in a written statement. Family Endeavors said the contract specifically required maintaining operational readiness during periods of low occupancy.
“Decisions regarding facility use and migrant sheltering locations were made by the federal government, not Endeavors,” the organization stated. The nonprofit said HHS officials were on-site daily providing oversight and that the agency determined when and whether to send children to the Pecos facility.
Family Endeavors pointed out it had worked with the federal government on migrant services since 2012, serving under both Republican and Democratic administrations. The nonprofit said it was one of only three nonprofits selected from 15 organizations awarded contracts in 2021.
Between 2021 and early 2024, the Pecos facility housed more than 40,000 unaccompanied migrant children according to Family Endeavors. The organization maintained that cold status payments covered necessary expenses including staff salaries, security, utilities, and maintenance required to keep the facility ready for immediate activation.
Where the Investigation Stands
Multiple federal investigations remain active. The House Oversight Committee has requested documents related to the contract award process. Congressional investigators are examining communications between Andrew Lorenzen-Strait and federal officials involved in procurement decisions.
The controversy has prompted discussions about reforming emergency contracting procedures. Some lawmakers want stricter time limits on sole-source procurement authority and mandatory periodic reviews of no-bid contracts.
The terminated migrant housing contract highlights ongoing tensions in federal spending. Emergency preparedness requires some standby capacity. But paying millions monthly for unused facilities raises questions about oversight and when emergency measures should end.
The doge hhs migrant housing contract case demonstrates how quickly emergency responses can become expensive long-term commitments. As federal investigations continue, the central question remains: where does necessary readiness end and wasteful spending begin?
