The disconnect: ICE awards over $280 million in skip-tracing contracts to four companies, promising data-driven precision in locating immigrants. Two months later, thousands of armed agents flood Minneapolis conducting "general sweeps," stopping people at bus stops based on race and ethnicity.[1][2]
This isn't a failure of technology. It's the system working exactly as designed.
Skip tracing locates people who don't want to be found. Originally developed for debt collection, it combines:
ICE's version: hand contractors batches of 10,000 people at a time, let them use whatever data sources and methods they choose, pay for volume.[3]
ICE issued solicitation 26-SOL-DCR-01 for "Skip Tracing Services" targeting 1.5 million people on the non-detained docket.[3] The original proposal had an $180 million cap. By late November, ICE scrapped the cap entirely, creating an unlimited program with multimillion-dollar guarantees.[4]
The warning signs were already there:
"The contract cares a lot about volume; it's noticeably quieter about accuracy and error thresholds."[3]
"Multiple contractors, each working through giant batches of people, with caseloads in the tens of thousands and a docket in the millions. The documents don't spell out strong coordination or error-checking across them."[3]
ICE received 52 bids. They structured it as a multiple-award IDIQ—multiple companies, each with their own contract ceiling up to $281.25 million, competing for task orders.[5]
Four confirmed awardees:
October 21: SOSi ($123M potential) — Military intelligence contractor, former Iraq base operator, hired former ICE intelligence chief Andre Watson three months before award[6][7]
October 27: Global Recovery Group ($33.5M) — International debt collector pivoting to immigration enforcement[8]
December 16: Bluehawk ($201.4M ceiling) — Pentagon/intelligence contractor, leadership includes former Defense Intelligence Agency chief and retired Lt Gen who ran Joint Special Operations Command[9][10]
December 16: GEO Group/BI Inc ($121M) — The largest private prison operator in the US. BI Inc has held ICE contracts since 2004, operates ISAP monitoring 186,000 people via ankle monitors and facial recognition apps, employs 1,000+ staff across ~100 offices.[11]