It seems the Trump administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are in a tough spot again. Reports suggest they are allegedly planning to hand over immigration operations to private companies.
According to Scripps News investigation, the agency has reportedly handed out contracts to 13 private companies. Bound by contracts worth as much as 1.2 billion dollars, these organizations are tasked with helping them trace immigrants.
So how do the contracts work? Federal contracting records show that last month, a few companies received two-year contracts for “skip tracing service”
These services enable them to trace and report individuals across various areas, such as debt collection, legal document recovery, and asset reclamation.
ICE is now using a Palantir tool to map neighborhoods and assign “deportation scores” in “target-rich environments” fed by HHS data.
Today it’s immigrants. Tomorrow it’s dissidents.
If you think this won’t be repurposed for activists or protesters, you aren’t paying attention. pic.twitter.com/2ukcy0lAUy
— Jason Bassler (@JasonBassler1) January 16, 2026
As per reports, the contracts also become more remunerative for the companies that can trace larger numbers of immigrants. However, reports also suggest that not all 13 companies have received their share of compensation yet. The White House or the Department of Homeland Security is yet to comment on the matter.
According to The Daily Beast, in October 2025, the Department of Homeland Security called for interested companies to sign up to carry out skip tracing. 13 companies were selected and were put on the payroll.
Some of these companies have no prior business relationship with the government. Some suspect that they could be resident-operated.
The news has come out as a shock amid the rising anti-Trump sentiment in the United States. After the tragic deaths of civilians Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents, the Trump administration decided to make subtle changes to immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
They have removed Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino from Minneapolis and replaced him by bringing in Border Czar Tom Homan.
Trump on Minnesota: We’re going to de-escalate a little bit. pic.twitter.com/0SzV0mbyTS
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 27, 2026
While not a “pullback,” Trump confirmed during an interview with Fox News, that they are “going to deescalate a little bit.” Meanwhile, the hate train against ICE is continuing to become stronger, with some people blaming Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, for the current scenario.
Under Trump’s rule, ICE has been criticized the most by citizens and critics from across the globe. However Noem has made it clear time and again that she is in favor of ICE officials doing what is needed to be done to weed out illegal immigrants.
Noem, who has worked with Bovino and defended ICE agents following the shooting of Good and Pretti, is now facing backlash and pressure to resign comes from various sources, including some Republican senators like Lisa Murkowski, who thinks the Department of Homeland Security needs a more capable leader.
But few questions remain: how far is the government willing to go and how many more deaths and unjust detainments will it take for the government to put an end to these inhuman raids?
