TL;DR: ICE has hired BI Incorporated, a subsidiary of private prison giant GEO Group, to run a bounty hunter program tracking immigrants to their homes and workplaces. The same company that profits from ankle monitors and detention centers now gets paid to find people. Contract value: up to $121 million by 2027. The surveillance-to-incarceration pipeline is now a single company.
What Happened
On December 19, 2025, The Intercept revealed that ICE has contracted with BI Incorporated, a subsidiary of for-profit prison company GEO Group, to provide "skip tracing" services [1]. In plain English: corporate bounty hunters using surveillance technology to track immigrants to their homes and workplaces.
ICE has already paid BI $1.6 million for these services. The contract could grow to $121 million by 2027.
The people doing the hunting won't have government credentials. They're private contractors with "significant latitude" in surveillance methods. And they get bonuses for successful locates.
Who Is BI Incorporated?
The GEO Group Connection
BI Incorporated was acquired by GEO Group in 2011. GEO Group is one of America's largest private prison companies, operating:
- Dozens of immigrant detention facilities
- Federal and state prisons
- The Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) for ICE
As of 2023, ICE funding makes up nearly half of GEO Group's total revenue, approximately $1 billion per year [2].
The Surveillance Arsenal
BI didn't start in prisons. They started tracking livestock with GPS. Then they pivoted to tracking parolees. Then immigrants. Their surveillance toolkit includes:
- GPS ankle monitors: Continuous location tracking worn by detainees
- Wrist-worn trackers: Smaller, less visible monitoring devices
- SmartLINK app: Smartphone surveillance with video check-ins, messaging, and location tracking
- Facial recognition: Built into SmartLINK for identity verification
- Voice prints: Biometric voice recognition for check-ins
- Case management software: Mapping geographic and spatial location data via Google Maps
The Numbers
BI has received hundreds of millions in government contracts since 2004. Their ISAP contract alone:
- 2006: $28 million budget
- 2020: $2.2 billion 5-year contract
- 2021: $475 million budget
- 2025: 465,000 participants allowed under new contract (up from 183,000)
As of September 2025, over 180,000 people were enrolled in Alternatives to Detention programs, with 29,000+ wearing ankle monitors [3].
How the Bounty Hunter Program Works
Skip Tracing Services
According to contracting documents, vendors are "expected to provide their own internal skip tracing tools" with significant latitude in surveillance methods [1]. That means:
- Private investigators using surveillance to locate targets
- Access to databases and location tracking technology
- Monetary bonuses for successful locates
- No government credentials, these aren't federal agents
The Data Advantage
BI already has location data on hundreds of thousands of immigrants from their ankle monitor program. Their SmartLINK app collects [4]:
- Personally identifying information
- Geolocation data (with disputed continuous vs. check-in-only tracking)
- Phone numbers of contacts
- Vehicle and driver information
- Facial images and voice prints
- Medical information, pregnancy status, and birth records
Nobody knows if BI is using this historical data for the new bounty hunting program. But they have it.
The Precedent
In 2018, BI shared location data that resulted in 40 arrests in Virginia [4]. The surveillance-to-arrest pipeline isn't theoretical. It's already proven.
The Profit Motive
One Company, Every Step
GEO Group has built a full-service deportation pipeline:
- Find them: BI bounty hunters locate immigrants (new contract)
- Track them: BI ankle monitors and SmartLINK surveillance (existing contracts)
- Detain them: GEO Group detention facilities hold them (existing contracts)
- Transport them: GEO Group provides detention transport (existing contracts)
Every step is billable. Every person processed is revenue. The incentive is more arrests, more detention, more deportation.
Political Contributions
GEO Group donated over $1.5 million to Trump's 2024 campaign and inaugural fund [1]. They've lobbied heavily for expanded immigration enforcement. Now they're getting contracts to hunt people.
The Track Record
GEO Group faces decades of criticism for:
- Facility mismanagement
- Inmate abuse allegations
- Inadequate medical care in detention
- Deaths in custody
A 2022 Guardian investigation found BI's surveillance technology malfunctions, sometimes injuring people, and that case managers have few protocols governing surveillance decisions [5].
The Oversight Vacuum
Data Retention Black Hole
How long can ICE keep your facial images, GPS logs, and voiceprints? Nobody knows for sure:
- DHS privacy assessments claim 7 years post-program
- FOIA records indicate BI may retain data indefinitely
- ICE contracts grant "unlimited rights to use, dispose of, or disclose" all ISAP data
There is currently no statutory framework governing biometric and geolocation data retention [4].
Contradictory Claims
ICE told Congress in 2019 it didn't "actively monitor" locations. But a 2023 investigation documented an ICE Houston agent tracking one individual over 24 hours [4]. The public statements and reality don't match.
Congressional Concerns
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) warned the bounty hunter initiative "invites the very abuses, secrecy, and corruption our founders sought to prevent" [1].
Why This Matters
For Immigrants
Private bounty hunters with surveillance technology are now actively searching for people. They have access to vast databases. They get paid for results. And they're not bound by the same rules as federal agents.
For Everyone
The surveillance infrastructure being built for immigration enforcement doesn't stay limited to immigrants. The same ankle monitor technology, facial recognition systems, and location databases can be repurposed for:
- Criminal justice "alternatives to incarceration"
- Pretrial monitoring
- Parole and probation
- Any population the government decides needs "supervision"
Today's immigration surveillance is tomorrow's general surveillance.
The Accountability Gap
Private contractors don't have the same transparency requirements as government agencies. When a private company hunts people for profit:
- No FOIA applies to their internal operations
- No civil service protections for whistleblowers
- No direct congressional oversight
- Limited liability for misconduct
What You Can Do
If You're At Risk
• Know your rights in ICE encounters
• Limit location sharing on all devices
• Be cautious about who has your phone number and address
• Connect with local immigrant rights organizations
For Everyone
• Support legislation requiring oversight of private surveillance contractors
• Oppose local cooperation with ICE programs
• Demand data retention limits for biometric information
• Support sanctuary policies that limit local-federal data sharing
The Bottom Line
A private prison company that profits from incarceration is now being paid to find people to incarcerate. They have surveillance technology, location databases, and monetary incentives to produce results.
This isn't law enforcement. It's a business model. And the product is human beings.
The same company that tracks you with an ankle monitor, detains you in their facility, and transports you for deportation now gets paid to find you in the first place. The surveillance-to-incarceration pipeline isn't a conspiracy theory. It's a publicly traded company's revenue stream.
References
- The Intercept - ICE Hires Immigrant Bounty Hunters From Private Prison Company GEO Group (December 19, 2025)
- OpenSecrets - Private prison giant GEO Group ramps up lobbying on immigrant surveillance (July 2024)
- The Lever - Private Prison Firms Set To Cash In On Immigrant Surveillance Boom (2025)
- CyberScoop - How a private company helps ICE track migrants' every move
- The Guardian - ICE surveillance investigation (2022)