ICE considers using private bounty hunters for migrant tracking

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is exploring a proposal to hire private contractors, described as “bounty hunters,” to locate and verify the whereabouts of undocumented migrants, according to a procurement document reviewed by The Intercept. The document shows that ICE may award contracts to multiple vendors to manage large volumes of cases across the country.

The plan, part of the Trump administration’s broader drive to accelerate deportations, would allow contractors to perform “skip tracing and process serving services” using government-supplied data. Skip tracing involves identifying individuals whose location is unknown, often through data analysis and field verification.

According to the document, “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of Enforcement and Removals (ERO) has an immediate need for Skip Tracing and Process Serving Services using Government furnished case data with identifiable information, commercial data verification and physical observation services… to verify alien address information, investigate alternative alien address information, confirm the new location of fugitive aliens to ERO, and deliver materials/documents to undocumented aliens as appropriate.”


The proposal includes financial incentives tied to performance. Contractors could receive higher payments for successfully confirming addresses or workplaces on the first attempt. Additional bonuses might be granted for submitting reports within 48 hours or achieving a high rate of verified deliveries, such as obtaining recipient signatures or reporting refusals.

The document also recommends using multiple data sources and technology tools to ensure accuracy. It outlines that vendors may receive dockets containing details of 10,000 individuals at a time, with further assignments extending up to one million cases. ICE’s plan would divide this work among several vendors to manage the large caseload efficiently.

The development underscores the administration’s continued efforts to increase enforcement operations and deportations by leveraging private-sector resources alongside federal agencies.