Contractor With 112 Violations Running Deadly Facility

Yellow police tape in front of crime scene.

A worker died just two days into construction of a massive ICE detention facility, and the contractors responsible settled their federal safety violations for pocket change while one continues fighting an $11,585 fine.

Story Snapshot

  • Three contractors cited for serious OSHA violations after worker’s death at Camp East Montana ICE detention center construction site on July 21, 2025
  • Two contractors settled for $15,000 each in reduced penalties; Base International Inc. contests its $11,585 fine
  • Facility now run by Amentum Services despite company’s record of 112 regulatory violations over 20 years and 40 federal lawsuits
  • Site logged 60 detention standard violations and three detainee deaths in first six months of operation

Fatal Accident Two Days After Contract Award

The U.S. Army awarded the Camp East Montana detention facility contract on July 19, 2025. Two days later, on July 21, a worker died at the construction site in an industrial truck accident involving multiple contractors. OSHA investigations revealed serious violations across three companies: Base International Inc., JMJ Production Services, and Fulfillment Personnel Services. The citations documented failures in industrial truck design, inspection, testing, maintenance, operation standards, and operator training certification. The rapid timeline from contract execution to worker fatality raises fundamental questions about contractor readiness and government oversight in this rushed facility buildout.

Minimal Penalties Send Troubling Message

JMJ Production Services and Fulfillment Personnel Services each settled their OSHA citations on February 18, 2026, paying reduced penalties of just $15,000. Base International Inc., founded by Nathan Albers and registered in Delaware in December 2023, contested its even smaller fine of $11,585 on February 13, 2026. These minimal penalties for serious safety violations that contributed to a worker’s death exemplify the broken accountability system in federal contracting. When companies can settle worker death investigations for amounts equivalent to a mid-level employee’s quarterly salary, the financial disincentive for cutting corners on safety essentially disappears. This settlement approach undermines workplace protections that matter to American workers regardless of political affiliation.

Pattern of Violations Across Contractor Network

The worker fatality fits a disturbing pattern involving contractors at Camp East Montana. Disaster Management Group, a general contractor and subcontractor on the project, accumulated $17.7 million in Department of Labor fines between 2021 and 2024 across six cases involving wage and hour violations. Investigators conducted 75 separate probes into DMG and 61 subcontractors during this period. Rather than excluding companies with such egregious records, the Department of Homeland Security simply rotated contractors. DHS awarded oversight of the now-operational 5,000-bed facility to Amentum Services, despite that company’s documented history of 112 regulatory violations spanning safety, false claims, and wage issues over two decades, plus 40 federal lawsuits filed between 2018 and 2026.

Operational Facility Plagued by Safety Failures

Camp East Montana began operations despite the safety failures during construction. Within the first 50 days of operation in September 2025, the Washington Post documented 60 violations of ICE detention standards at the facility. By the end of the first six months, three detainees had died in custody at the site. These outcomes vindicate concerns raised by Public Citizen, which warned that awarding the facility to Amentum endangered detainee safety given the contractor’s violation record. The facility represents a troubling convergence of privatized detention expansion, weak government oversight, and a contractor selection process that appears to reward connections over competence and compliance with worker safety and detainee care standards.

The Camp East Montana story illuminates how the federal contracting system fails American workers and taxpayers alike. Government agencies award billions to private contractors with documented records of safety violations, wage theft, and regulatory non-compliance. When workers die or standards are violated, minimal fines are negotiated down further, companies contest even those reduced amounts, and agencies simply rotate to the next contractor with an equally troubled history. This revolving door of accountability-free contracting perpetuates a system where well-connected firms profit while workers and detainees bear the risks. Both conservatives concerned with government waste and liberals focused on worker protections should find common cause in demanding contractors face meaningful consequences and agencies prioritize safety over speed in facility construction and operation.

Sources:

Public Citizen – The Anatomy and Failure of an ICE Detention Center Contract

PMC – Health Standards and Accountability in U.S. Detention Systems

DHS Homeland Security Advisory Council – Private Immigration Detention Facilities Report

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