A "Humanitarian Response" Firm With No Federal Contract History Is Staffing Planned Immigration Detention Center in Maryland

Anovaeon LLC, which has never won a federal contract, is recruiting for a 1,500-bed facility outside Hagerstown amid unresolved infrastructure concerns.

An aerial view of the ICE detention warehouse in Williamsport, Md. Imagery via USGS.

A San Antonio staffing company that has never been awarded a federal contract has begun recruiting workers for a planned 1,500-bed immigration detention facility in western Maryland.

Anovaeon LLC, which describes itself on its website as “your trusted partner in humanitarian response,” is advertising positions including case processing specialists, processing operations director and processing site supervisors for what the listings call the “Hagerstown Processing” facility — a reference to an 825,000-square-foot warehouse in Williamsport that the federal government purchased in January for $102.4 million. The company’s website makes no mention of immigration detention. It was founded in September 2024.

Anovaeon’s president and chief executive, Eric Fritz, says he has managed complex projects “in war zones, disaster zones, and migration crises” across six countries and holds a master’s degree in international human rights and humanitarian law. The company lists certifications in emergency preparedness, disaster response and artificial intelligence applications.

The supervisor role is listed at $37 per hour. Applicants must be United States citizens and pass a federal background investigation up to a Tier 4 Department of Homeland Security clearance — a requirement for a firm that, according to public data available from USASpending.gov, has never been awarded a federal contract. The listings were active as of the time of publication. Mr. Fritz and Anovaeon could not immediately be reached for requests for comment.

The job postings call for supervisors to oversee around-the-clock processing of immigration documentation and coordinate with security, medical and information technology personnel inside the facility.

Anovaeon, based at a residential address in San Antonio, was added in October 2025 to WEXMAC TITUS, a Department of Defense contracting vehicle administered by the Naval Supply Systems Command that was originally created to allow rapid contractor deployment in response to international disasters, bypassing the traditional federal bidding process. In 2025 it was expanded to include a new domestic region — TITUS, short for Territorial Integrity of the United States — opening it to Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention work for the first time. Under the contract's terms, vendors cannot refuse detention referrals from ICE and are obligated to perform task orders even if they never submitted a bid for them. The vehicle carries a total ceiling of $20 billion.

The staffing push is moving forward even as key infrastructure questions remain unanswered. The warehouse has an 800-gallon-a-day water allocation. A facility housing 1,500 people would require an estimated 209,000 gallons per day, according to an analysis by Project Salt Box using ICE’s own per-capita planning figures.

The Washington County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Feb. 10 to express “full support” for the facility, then abruptly ended the meeting as protesters responded with shouts and whistles. Commission President John F. Barr said “clear the room” immediately after the vote; the live stream cut off. Public comment at commission meetings remains suspended.

The vote marked a reversal for county officials, who had initially said they were not consulted about the purchase. Officials later acknowledged receiving a consultation letter from the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 14 — two days after ICE had documented in internal reports that the county had not commented. By the time residents learned of the facility, the federal consultation process had been completed.

The Hagerstown Rapid Response Network said in a statement posted to Change.org that the community had been denied any meaningful role. “Our community asked for transparency. We asked for public discussion,” the group said. “Instead, we got silence, rushed decisions, and a unanimous vote by the Washington County Commissioners to support the project — before the public even had a meaningful chance to weigh in.”

ICE and Washington County officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The federal government has not disclosed a timeline for when the facility would open.

Bre Gurosko contributed to this report.