ICE Pays $121 Million for Private Bounty Hunters to Track Immigrants

TL;DR: ICE just signed a $121 million, two-year contract with BI Incorporated (a subsidiary of private prison giant GEO Group) to hunt down immigrants for deportation. The contract covers "skip tracing": mining commercial databases, conducting physical surveillance, and tracking addresses for people on ICE's non-detained docket. This is privatized bounty hunting on a massive scale, with no meaningful oversight. GEO Group already makes $1 billion annually from ICE contracts. Now they're getting paid to find more people to arrest. If you or anyone you know could be targeted, read our protection guides immediately.

The Contract: $121 Million to Hunt Immigrants

On December 16, 2025, ICE awarded a two-year contract worth up to $121 million to BI Incorporated for "skip tracing" services.^[1] The technical language in the contract describes:

Enhanced location research using identifiable information
Commercial data verification: mining databases from data brokers
Physical observation to verify addresses
Investigation of alternative addresses

Translation: ICE is paying a private company to stalk people. To dig through commercial databases. To physically surveil homes and workplaces. To find anyone who might have moved or changed their phone number.

The targets are people on ICE's "non-detained docket": immigrants who aren't in custody but have pending cases or removal orders. There are over 7 million people on this docket.^[2]

$121 million to hunt 7 million people. That's the math of mass deportation.

Who Is BI Incorporated?

BI Incorporated is a subsidiary of The GEO Group, one of the largest private prison companies in America.^[3] Here's what you need to know about them:

2022 ICE revenue: $1.05 billion, 43.9% of GEO Group's total revenue^[4]
Electronic monitoring: $408 million from ankle monitors, smartwatches, and facial recognition apps^[4]
21+ years with ICE: Long-term partnership in immigrant surveillance^[1]
SmartLINK app: Forces immigrants to submit to GPS tracking and facial recognition check-ins^[5]

GEO Group has been building the infrastructure of immigration surveillance for decades. They run detention centers. They manufacture the ankle monitors. They operate the SmartLINK app that tracks your location through facial recognition. And now they're the ones hunting people down.

This is what happens when you privatize immigration enforcement: the profit motive takes over. GEO Group's stock price goes up every time deportation policy gets harsher. They lobby for stricter enforcement. They donate to politicians. Then they win contracts to implement the policies they lobbied for.^[6]

What Is "Skip Tracing"?

Skip tracing is a term from the bail bond industry. It means tracking down people who "skipped" on their court appearances or debts. Traditionally, this meant bounty hunters.

For ICE, skip tracing means:

Data Broker Mining

Accessing databases from LexisNexis, Thomson Reuters, and other data brokers. This includes utility records, DMV data, credit headers, and commercial address databases.

Social Network Analysis

Mapping family relationships, known associates, and social connections to find alternative addresses where targets might be hiding.

Physical Surveillance

Staking out homes, workplaces, and religious institutions. Following family members. Photographing addresses and vehicles.

Commercial Data Verification

Cross-referencing phone records, utility bills, package deliveries, and any other data trails that might reveal a current location.

The contract explicitly includes "physical observation." That's surveillance language. They're not just mining databases. They're putting people on the ground to watch and track.

Part of ICE's Surveillance Shopping Spree

This $121 million contract is just one piece of ICE's unprecedented surveillance expansion. The agency's $28.7 billion budget includes:

$11 million to Cellebrite for phone-hacking tools^[7]
$3 million to Magnet Forensics (Graykey) for phone extraction^[7]
$2 million to Paragon for Graphite spyware: remote phone hacking^[7]
$2+ million to PenLink for cell phone location data and "Tangles" surveillance^[8]
$6 million for ALPR (license plate reader) data access^[7]
Millions more for 24/7 social media monitoring

The skip tracing contract with BI Incorporated fits into this larger ecosystem. ICE uses social media monitoring to identify targets. Location data to track movements. Phone hacking to extract evidence. And now private bounty hunters to find people who've tried to disappear.

This is the machinery of mass deportation. Every piece connects. Every contract expands capability. And private companies profit from every arrest.

Zero Accountability

When you outsource enforcement to private companies, accountability disappears:

No public records: BI Incorporated's activities aren't subject to the same FOIA requirements as direct government action
No warrant requirement: Private companies can access commercial data that would require warrants for government^[8]
No constitutional protections: Fourth Amendment limits government, not private contractors
No civil service protections: Whistleblowers at private companies have fewer protections
Profit incentive: More arrests = more contract renewals = higher stock price

Critics have compared this to "bounty hunting," and that's exactly what it is.^[2] But unlike bounty hunters chasing bail jumpers, these contractors are hunting people whose only crime might be missing a court date or overstaying a visa.

What This Means for Immigrant Communities

If you're on ICE's non-detained docket, or if you know anyone who is, understand what you're facing:

Your data is being mined: Commercial databases, utility records, DMV records, all being searched
Your family is being mapped: Skip tracers analyze social networks to find alternative addresses
Your home may be watched: "Physical observation" means surveillance
There's a financial bounty: Private contractors profit from finding you

This isn't paranoia. It's the explicit purpose of a $121 million contract.

How to Protect Yourself

Digital privacy and data minimization are your best defenses. Here's what you can do:

Minimize Your Data Trail

Utilities in different names. P.O. boxes for mail. Don't update your address everywhere. See our OSINT self-defense guide.

Secure Communications

Use Signal for messaging. Enable disappearing messages. Don't discuss locations over regular SMS or calls.

Lock Down Social Media

Private accounts. No location tagging. Don't post check-ins. Assume every public post is monitored by ICE contractors.

Know Your Rights

ICE needs either a judicial warrant signed by a judge (not an ICE warrant) or your consent to enter your home. Read our full Know Your Rights guide.

Advanced Protection

Use Tor for browsing: Our Tor basics guide explains how to browse without leaving a trail
Block trackers at network level: Set up Pi-hole to block surveillance on all devices
Privacy-focused payments: Monero leaves no transaction trail
Use a VPN: Our VPN guide helps hide your real location
Avoid facial recognition: Techniques to defeat facial recognition

Community Resistance

Individual protection matters, but collective resistance is essential:

Know Your Neighborhood: Build networks that can warn when ICE is spotted
Use ICE alert apps: Apps like ICEOUT and Stop ICE Alerts crowdsource enforcement sightings
Support sanctuary policies: Push local officials to limit cooperation with ICE
Fund legal defense: Donate to immigrant defense organizations
Document everything: Record ICE encounters. You have the right to film in public

GEO Group profits from fear and isolation. Community solidarity is the antidote.

The Bigger Picture

The $121 million skip tracing contract is a symptom of a larger disease: the privatization of immigration enforcement.

Private prison companies don't just benefit from harsh policies. They shape them. GEO Group spent over $5 million on lobbying and political contributions in the 2024 election cycle. They're not passive contractors; they're active participants in creating the conditions that make their services necessary.^[6]

When ICE pays BI Incorporated $121 million to track immigrants, that money doesn't just fund surveillance. It funds the political machine that pushes for more surveillance. It's a self-reinforcing cycle of cruelty and profit.

This is what mass deportation looks like in practice: not just ICE agents, but a sprawling network of private contractors, data brokers, and surveillance companies all coordinated to hunt millions of people.

And every new contract makes the machine harder to stop.