ICE Considers Hiring Private Bounty Hunters to Locate Undocumented Immigrants

Strategic Insights -

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is reportedly considering a plan to hire private bounty hunters, offering monetary bonuses for locating and reporting undocumented immigrants across the country. The plan involves both physical and digital forms of surveillance, with ICE allowing contractors to use commercially available monitoring tools to verify immigrants' addresses through "enhanced location research." This approach would reward contractors with monetary bonuses for quick and accurate results, such as correctly locating a person's address on the first attempt or finding 90 percent of their targets within a specified period. The plan has raised concerns about the potential for mass surveillance and the targeting of individuals without immigration documentation.

Key Takeaways:

  • ICE is considering hiring private bounty hunters to locate and report undocumented immigrants.
  • The plan involves both physical and digital forms of surveillance, including the use of commercially available monitoring tools.
  • Contractors will be rewarded with monetary bonuses for quick and accurate results.
  • The plan includes the use of "skip-tracing" – a technique that relies on various data sources to locate individuals.
  • ICE is considering an "incentive-based pricing structure" that would reward contractors with monetary bonuses for quick and accurate results.
  • The plan includes the use of real-time automated and manual skip tracing to verify immigrants' addresses.
  • The government is contemplating awarding contracts to multiple vendors due to the large number of immigrants whose whereabouts it seeks to confirm.
  • The crackdown on undocumented immigrants has been a key part of Trump's campaign promise to deport people without immigration documentation.
  • Trump's administration set a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3,000 undocumented migrants per day.
  • The fast-track deportation procedure, known as "expedited removal," allows immigration authorities to deport individuals without a hearing before an immigration judge.

Statistics:

  • 10,000 immigrants will be the initial target for contractors to locate at a time.
  • Contractors would receive monetary bonuses for finding 90 percent of their targets within a specified period.
  • The government is contemplating awarding contracts to multiple vendors.
  • Trump's administration set a goal for ICE to arrest at least 3,000 undocumented migrants per day.
  • The budget for multimillion-dollar contracts to fund "skip-tracing" is not specified.

Sources:

  • "ICE to hire private bounty hunters, reward them with cash for catching undocumented immigrants," The Intercept
  • "Erik Prince Pushes for Formation of Private Immigration Enforcement Effort," Politico (February)
  • "ICE's new program relies on private companies to track people," The Lever