Serco Inc. has protested a potential $888.7 million contract that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) awarded to U.S. Investigations Services (USIS) last month to help support the agency’s work with applicants seeking immigration benefits.
The protest was filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and is scheduled to be decided on by Aug. 6. USCIS is an agency of the Department of Homeland Security that oversees lawful immigration to the United States.
Under the contract, USCIS seeks help at 135 Application Support Center (ASC) locations around the United States and six ports of entry. Support will include personnel management, customer identity verification consisting of fingerprint capture at field offices to verify that a person’s biometrics are the same as those captured earlier at an ASC, as well as other services such a facilities leasing and maintenance, procurement of consumable supplies, general office equipment, quality and training programs and more.
Serco Inc. is the U.S.-based division of Britain’s Serco Group. The company currently has a contract with USCIS to provide record processing for the adjudication of immigration benefits. The company has supported USCIS’ National Benefits Center for the past 10 years.
In its original synopsis, USCIS said it expected to award two contracts for the ASC support work but reserved the right to award a single contract. The award to USIS has a base year and four one-year options.
USIS is part of Altegrity.