Immigration & Border Security

DHS Weighs Private Bounty Hunters to Locate Illegal Immigrants

The government investigated giving skip-tracing companies information on 10,000 illegal immigrants at a time.
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DHS Weighs Private Bounty Hunters to Locate Illegal Immigrants
Federal agents block people protesting an ICE immigration operation at a nearby licensed cannabis farm near Camarillo, Calif., on July 10, 2025. Mario Tama/Getty Images
Darlene McCormick Sanchez
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The Trump administration is exploring a program to hire bounty hunters who would track down illegal immigrants and receive bonuses for successful captures, according to a government contracting site.

​The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a request for information on Oct. 31 through the federal government’s central online portal for federal contracting opportunities to gauge interest from private bounty-hunting services.
Darlene McCormick Sanchez
Darlene McCormick Sanchez
Reporter
Darlene McCormick Sanchez is an Epoch Times reporter who covers border security and immigration, election integrity, and Texas politics. Ms. McCormick Sanchez has 20 years of experience in media and has worked for outlets including Waco Tribune Herald, Tampa Tribune, and Waterbury Republican-American. She was a finalist for a Pulitzer prize for investigative reporting.