The federal government’s hunt for immigrants is ramping up. Each month, private contractors receive tens of thousands of names from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and are asked to locate those individuals as quickly as possible so that ICE can conduct targeted enforcement operations to arrest and detain those individuals. What makes this system new is not just its scale — contractors may receive up to 50,000 names per month, with the “skip tracing” program potentially targeting more than 1 million people — but how it is achieved. Contractors are using a mix of data tools, online research, and, increasingly, artificial intelligence to locate people — allowing for a faster and much larger sweep than before.
This is called skip tracing: finding someone using public records, databases, online information, and, sometimes, physical surveillance. Skip tracing has long been used by debt collectors, bail bondsmen, and private investigators. Now it is being used by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to find individuals for immigration enforcement. While skip tracing has traditionally been used by private entities, its use in government immigration enforcement raises new legal questions about privacy, due process, and the role of private actors in government surveillance.
Reporting by Scripps News found that ICE awarded contracts to 13 private companies to provide “skip tracing services nationwide.” These open-ended contracts were issued in December 2025 and could total $1.2 billion over two years. The Intercept estimated that up to 1.5 million immigrants could be targeted using a mix of digital tools and in-person surveillance.
Contractors are given personal data, including names, dates of birth, addresses, and contact information. Each company may receive up to 50,000 cases per month and is instructed to first use all technology available, as reported by The Washington Post, to locate individuals. If that fails, contractors can move to physical, in-person surveillance. The program relies on a combination of government records, commercial data sources, and online information, although details about which specific databases are being used, how the accuracy of the data is being verified, and how any errors are corrected have not been made public.
For attorneys, this means that client location data may be collected, verified, and shared with ICE through third-party contractors — potentially before ICE ever contacts the individual directly. According to ICE documents shared with The Washington Post, the information gathered by contractors “may lead to raids” or other enforcement actions, including arrests or removal proceedings.
Some of the companies contracted by ICE have backgrounds in military or intelligence work, such as Bluehawk LLC, SOS International, and Gravitas, and have used artificial intelligence and large language models as part of their work. These are firms that have traditionally supported national security, military defense, or private investigations — not routine civil immigration enforcement.
Bluehawk, for example, has held contracts with the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies for over a decade, focusing on intelligence collection and analysis.
From a broader perspective, skip tracing reflects larger trends in data-driven immigration enforcement. Enforcement is no longer carried out solely by federal agents but is increasingly distributed across a network of private companies, data brokers, and state and local agencies. At the same time, surveillance of specific populations is becoming more normalized.
Skip tracing is not just about finding people. It is about building a system — a surveillance supply chain in which artificial intelligence amplifies existing legal and ethical concerns. By making it easier to collect, analyze, and act on large amounts of data, AI allows enforcement agencies to operate at a previously unimaginable scale. As this system expands, it risks eroding privacy, increasing errors, and shifting critical decisions about people’s lives further away from transparency and accountability.
For more information on ICE Arrest of Immigrants Using AI,
text/call 407-292-7730 | whatsapp 407-353-1363 |email gail@gaillaw.com
FREE consultation – Book consultation: www.gaillaw.as.me
Copyright © 2025, Law Offices of Gail S. Seeram. All Rights Reserved.
