Justification_Exception_to_Fair_Opportunity_Exceeding_SAT_Redacted.pdf

OFFICE OF ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT

ICE Acquisition Manual 3016.506-90

JUSTIFICATION FOR EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

EXCEEDING SAT: FAR 16.507-6

1 FAR Class Deviation 26-04 Rev. 1 is implemented as a result of Revolutionary FAR Overhaul, referred as RFO, following Executive Order 14275, Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement. All citations in this document follow applicable DHS RFO Deviations therefore are referred as RFO.

J&A-26-0230

41 U.S. Code § 4106 and

- Class Deviation 26-04, Rev. 11),

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of Acquisition Management (OAQ), prepared this justification for an exception to fair opportunity on behalf of the Office of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Visa Security Program (VSP).

2. Nature and/or description of the item/service being procured and anticipated cost:

(a) Type of Action: The sole-source interim contract will be issued under Steampunk’s Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center, Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts, Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 3-Small Business, IDIQ Contract Number 75N98120D00251 to provide continued support for the Visa Security Program Tracking System

(VSPTS).

(b) Contract type: Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP)

(c) Identify whether new action or modification to existing action: New

(d) Dollar value for this justification:

(e) Type and year of funding: This interim will utilize HSI Base Funding, Fiscal Year 2026

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

(a) Describe the supplies or services to be acquired.

OAQ intends to procure continued operations and maintenance support for VSPTS on a sole-source basis. The required services include adaptive, perfective, corrective, and preventive maintenance, system enhancements, documentation updates, and support for the Amazon Web Services (AWS) AWS GovCloud hosting environment and Tier 2 and Tier 3 help desk support to ensure VSPTS remains operational, secure, efficient, and responsive to changing mission, regulatory, infrastructure, and user requirements. These services are required to ensure VSPTS remain operational, secure, efficient, and responsive to changing mission, regulatory, infrastructure, and user requirements.

OAQ intends to procure these support services from the following vendor:

Steampunk Inc.

1753 Pinnacle Dr Suite 215 McLean, VA 22102

JUSTIFICATION FOR EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

EXCEEDING SAT: FAR 16.507-6

1 FAR Class Deviation 26-04 Rev. 1 is implemented as a result of Revolutionary FAR Overhaul, referred as RFO, following Executive Order 14275, Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement. All citations in this document follow applicable DHS

Awarding the interim contract to Steampunk Inc. is in the interest of economy and efficiency because the work is a direct continuation of the same VSPTS operations and maintenance support currently being performed under the existing order. The interim effort requires uninterrupted system operations, established processes, operational knowledge, and ongoing coordination with program stakeholders during the bridge period. Maintaining the current contractor reduces performance and schedule risk by avoiding the need for a short-term transition to a new contractor, which would require onboarding, knowledge transfer, process familiarization, and coordination activities that could delay performance.

It also avoids increased costs associated with transition, start-up, and duplicative knowledge transfer for a short-term requirement that is substantially the same as the existing work. Continuing with Steampunk Inc. during the interim period minimizes the risk of disruption to VSPTS operations and supports continuity of mission-critical services while the Government completes the follow-on competitive acquisition.

Transitioning to a different vendor for the interim period would require time for the new vendor to become familiar with VSPTS daily operations, system processes, procedures, and mission requirements. Such a transition would also require significant incumbent support, creating duplicative effort, additional transition costs, schedule risk, and potential service delays.

VSPTS directly supports ICE’s role in the interagency effort to enhance national security through automated pre-adjudicated screening and vetting of individuals applying for U.S. visas. Continued support is required to ensure ICE can store, track, and manage visa vetting and screening operations effectively. The system also supports the capture and reporting of key operational metrics for internal stakeholders. A break in VSPTS support would create significant mission risk and could impair ICE’s ability to support timely and effective visa screening and vetting activities.

ICE leadership recently updated the acquisition strategy for VSPTS. Although release of a competitive re-compete solicitation for the legacy system was originally planned for July 2026, that approach was canceled in favor of a more advanced, modernized solution. ICE leadership intends to transition VSPTS operations to Palantir’s Foundry platform. During the interim contract period, the new VSPTS applications are expected to be developed and deployed on the Foundry platform to support a seamless transition while maintaining uninterrupted operational support.

The interim contract is, therefore, necessary to bridge the period between the existing VSPTS environment and the planned modernized Foundry-based solution. This approach avoids disruption to ongoing visa security operations, preserves continuity of critical system support, and allows ICE to modernize VSPTS without requiring a separate short-term transition to another vendor that would provide limited benefit and create unnecessary cost, delay, and performance risk.

The relationship between the original order and the interim follow-on is logical in terms of scope. The interim contract continues the same essential operations and maintenance support performed under the original order, is limited to the period necessary to maintain continuity while the Foundry transition is developed and implemented, and is intended only to satisfy the Government’s near-term need for uninterrupted VSPTS services. For these reasons, use of the logical follow-on exception is appropriate and supports the Government’s interest in economy, efficiency, and mission continuity.

JUSTIFICATION FOR EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

EXCEEDING SAT: FAR 16.507-6

1 FAR Class Deviation 26-04 Rev. 1 is implemented as a result of Revolutionary FAR Overhaul, referred as RFO, following Executive Order 14275, Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement. All citations in this document follow applicable DHS

5. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The interim contract will be a FFP Task Order awarded under the CIO-SP3 contract. The Contracting Officer will determine the anticipated price to the Government to be fair and reasonable based on the pre-negotiated contract labor rates under CIO-SP3.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

N/A

7. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

The Government is conducting market research to determine whether this requirement can be completed under the Scalable Ways to Implement Flexible Tasks (SWIFT) Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ). Specifically, the research is assessing whether contractors within the SWIFT’s Platform as a Service (PaaS) Domain have the capability to migrate the VSPTS application to the Foundry Platform.

8. Posting

RFO 16.507-6(f)(1) - ICE intends to post this requirement on sam.gov within 14 days after placing an order or establishing a BPA above the SAT on a sole source basis for a minimum of 30 days.

RFO 16.507-6(f)(2) - ICE intends to post this justification on sam.gov within 30 days after award of the order because the agency’s need for these supplies/services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays for a minimum of 30 days.

RFO 16.507-6(f)(4) - ICE will not be posting this justification because disclosure of these supplies/services would compromise the national security (e.g. would result in disclosure of classified information) or create other security risks.