In February, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, made an unannounced visit to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Baltimore.
“We saw one room of men where there are 55 people in there, in a room I would not put more than a dozen or 15 people in,” Raskin said in a press conference after the visit. “They said it could actually fit more.”
Raskin said some had been detained there for a week – twice as long as normal – and some gestured to him that they needed showers.
“To be packed in with 55 people, one toilet, and no showers is just not a healthy sanitary situation for anybody within this system,” Raskin said.
Security guards hired by a Bering Straits Native Corporation subsidiary, Paragon Professional Services, watch over detainees at the ICE facility.
A week before Raskin’s visit, WUSA9 in Washington, D.C., reported allegations from a former facility employee who spoke anonymously, citing a non-disclosure agreement. The former employee described unsanitary conditions inside the facility, including “people laying in feces. People throwing up, people laying in urine.”
In a statement provided to WUSA9, BSNC said, “Our companies strive to ensure that all individuals who work for us, or who are placed in our care, are treated with dignity and respect.”
In response to a request for comment from KNOM two weeks later, BSNC said it “does not comment on contracts that our companies perform.”
But a lawsuit filed last month contains more allegations about conditions at the facility. In the lawsuit, which asks a federal judge to block some of ICE’s alleged arrest practices, one plaintiff says he was held for six days in overcrowded conditions. Another plaintiff says he was denied medication, including insulin for diabetes.
The Trump administration has pumped tens of billions more dollars into immigration enforcement, which it says is necessary for public safety. ICE says detention facilities like the one in Maryland are needed to ensure people appear in court for immigration proceedings.
Meanwhile, BSNC is reporting record revenue as the company expands its work for the federal government.
But some shareholders are asking if the source of that growth aligns with BSNC’s values, which it says “arise from the culture of Our People.” The corporation’s ICE contracts have even become a key issue for some candidates in the upcoming election for the corporation’s board, which oversees its top decision-makers.
Gabe Canfield, who is poised to become a new shareholder this fall, regularly posts about the corporation’s ICE contracts on social media.
“Since when is dehumanization of other people ever an Alaska Native value?” she said in an interview. “Because at the end of the day, that's what those ICE agents are doing.”
ICE contracts become a board election issue
The corporation has a lot to gain financially from immigration enforcement. According to the federal contract database USASpending, the value of ICE contracts awarded to two BSNC subsidiaries — initially a company called Global Precision Systems, and now Paragon — has tripled over the last decade, from $31 million to $95 million.
Those contracts are part of a much larger federal contracting business. According to its 2026 Annual Report, BSNC reported a record $1.2 billion in revenue this year, with over 90% coming from its government services division.
But Ayyu Qassataq, one of the 25 candidates running in the upcoming board election, hopes to represent shareholders who think the ICE contracts aren’t worth it. She said she had a “visceral” reaction to the reporting on the Baltimore facility and described the conditions there as “horrible.”
Qassataq said her view of the ICE contracts is shaped by Alaska Native people’s history with the federal government. Under a 1915 law, Alaska Native people seeking citizenship had to abandon tribal customs and relationships and have white citizens attest that they had assimilated.
For Qassataq, that makes it hard to reconcile an Alaska Native corporation choosing to participate in federal immigration enforcement.
“We’re in a position with these kinds of contracts where we are following and carrying out the federal government’s definition of who is a citizen and who isn’t, and they’re using weaponized language to instill fear in us,” Qassataq said.
Last December, Qassataq and fellow shareholders Charlene Aqpik Apok and Jessica Saniġaq Ullrich filed a petition, signed by 102 BSNC shareholders and descendants, that called for permanent divestment from ICE-related services.
BSNC acknowledged the petition eight days later. In September, BSNC President Cindy Towarak Massie and board Chair Robert Evans responded in an email saying the board had “carefully considered the concerns raised” and reviewed the “relevant business line.” According to the email, that review included a tour of a detention facility and interviews with staff and management.
In response to a question from KNOM about whether the corporation’s board had reviewed the ICE contracts, BSNC Director of External Affairs and Public Relations Marleanna Hall wrote in an email that “BSNC does not disclose confidential Board deliberations or internal communications.”
Profit and responsibility
Don Stiles, an original BSNC shareholder who is also running for the board, said he does not oppose the corporation pursuing federal work outside the Bering Strait region.
“In order to gain the revenue that they’re generating, they have to go outside of the region. So I think they’re on the right track as far as developing revenue,” Stiles said. “It’s just a question of whether it’s ethical or not.”
Stiles said he wants more information before reaching a conclusion about BSNC’s ICE contracts.
“I think the board made the decision based on information that they’re privy to, and I can’t really prejudge that,” he said.
He also acknowledged the importance of the corporation generating profits for shareholders. In Bering Strait communities where basic living costs can be high, Stiles said shareholder dividends can represent meaningful income.
The corporation declared a record-high dividend of $13.50 per share this fiscal year, following a special $8.75-per-share dividend in February. The corporation attributed the additional payout to its “strong financial performance.”
“But I also believe how BSNC earns that profit matters,” Stiles said.
The debate is happening as BSNC prepares for another major change. For the first time, the corporation is opening enrollment to lineal descendants and other eligible people who did not receive shares when the corporation was created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971. Some of those descendants have been outspoken about the corporation’s ICE contracts.
Adelaine Ahmasuk said she is especially concerned about supporting a system that separates families. A 2026 report from the nonpartisan Brookings Institution estimated that about 145,000 children were separated from a parent as a result of ICE detentions during Trump’s second term.
“At our center in our communities, we're always taught to have love for our children and love for our elders,” Ahmasuk said. “We can't be supporting systems that physically separate families from their children.”
Meanwhile, Gabe Canfield said she’s been trying for months to raise awareness about the ICE contracts, but at this point she’s close to burning out.
“How many times can you bring this attention forward to people before people listen?” she said.
New enrollees will not receive their shares until after this fall’s board election, meaning Canfield and other prospective shareholders will not have a vote this year. But Canfield said she hopes bringing a younger generation into the corporation will eventually influence its direction.
“People who are in politics don’t want to give up their spots,” she said. “Youth are knocking at the door, but you have to let the youth in. You have to make space.”
BSNC shareholders are now voting to elect five members to the board of directors. The results will be finalized at the corporation’s Oct. 3 annual meeting in Nome.
Editor's note: Ayyu Qassataq serves on Alaska Public Media's Board of Directors. Alaska Public Media contributed editing to this story. Board members do not participate in or influence editorial decisions.
