ICE’s New Skip-Tracing Contract: What It Is, Why It Matters, and What Communities Can Do

Overview

ICE has issued a new, multi-year solicitation on SAM.gov for skip-tracing services—a tool that uses large databases of personal information to locate people for immigration enforcement. The solicitation is unusually vague, broad, and fast-moving, which poses major risks for immigrant communities across the country.

This document explains what the solicitation does, why it’s dangerous, and what advocacy groups can do in response.

1. What This Solicitation Is Asking For

ICE is seeking a contractor who can quickly produce large volumes of “skip-tracing” information: names, addresses, phone numbers, associations, and other personal data used to track individuals.

Unlike many federal grant programs that clearly spell out deliverables, reporting requirements, and performance standards, this solicitation:

• Does not define what counts as accurate or verified information
• Does not identify acceptable or unacceptable data sources
• Does not set error thresholds or quality controls
• Does not detail privacy protections or oversight mechanisms
• Does not require clear documentation or transparency

The contract lasts three years, which signals a rapid scale-up in data collection and enforcement capability—without the safeguards normally found in federal programs that touch vulnerable populations.

2. Why This Creates Serious Risk

A. The Contractor Will Set Its Own Standards

Because the solicitation leaves key terms undefined, the vendor will decide:

• what “reliable data” means