Size Protest: GAO Says ICE Should Cancel Contract The Government Accountability Office recommended that Immigration and Customs Enforcement terminate a small business set-aside contract because the winning offeror did not qualify as a small business. GAO said ICE failed to notify other offerors of the identity of the winning company before the contract was awarded, as required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation, so they had no chance to file a size status protest in advance of the award. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract to provide detention officer and transportation services was awarded to Ahuska Security Corp. A losing bidder, Spectrum Security Services Inc., protested as soon as it learned the name of the winner. Under the Competition in Contacting Act, the protest would have required ICE to delay the start of contract performance, but ICE declared that proceeding with the work was in the “best interest” of the agency because it needed the services immediately. SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals subsequently ruled that Ahuska Security did not qualify as a small business, partly because its plan for extensive subcontracting with a large business “evidenced an ‘ostensible subcontractor affiliation’ between Ahuska and the large business subcontractor.” The case is Matter of: Spectrum Security Services Inc., File B-297320.2; B-297320.3, available at www.gsa.gov.