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.
“DHS ICE has an immediate need for Skip Tracing and Process Serving Services using government furnished case data with identifiable information, commercial data verification, and physical observation services, to verify alien address information, investigate alternative alien address information, confirm the new location of aliens, and deliver materials/documents to aliens as appropriate,” the request stated.
While the information gathering process isn’t the same as the government seeking a contract for services, it could lead to an opportunity in the foreseeable future.
The idea is for ICE to provide skip-tracing companies—businesses specializing in locating individuals—with information on 10,000 immigrants at a time to locate over an initial 12-month period.
Extra assignments would be given in increments of 10,000, up to 1,000,000, over additional periods of time.
Under the plan, skip-trace vendors would be paid to find illegal immigrants and serve them with documents.
Such companies would verify address information for non-citizens provided by the government, research additional possible addresses for these individuals, confirm their current residence locations, and deliver required documents to them as needed.
Bounty hunters would provide ICE with documented home and work addresses, phone numbers, vehicle information, and social media information.
The proposed pay structure includes “monetary bonuses” based on three criteria: performance, volume, and quality of information provided by companies.
Performance bonuses were proposed for vendors who verify an illegal immigrant’s residence or employment location on the first attempt.
Other factors include timely verification reports, the vendor’s success in document delivery, and obtaining signatures.
In a statement to The Epoch Times, a DHS spokesperson didn’t comment directly on using bounty hunters to help ICE.
The same system is currently used by the United States and Israeli militaries.
Earlier this year, states attempted similar bounty hunter programs.
It would have allowed Missourians to earn $1,000 for reporting illegal immigrants who were arrested.
Lawmakers in Mississippi attempted to duplicate the Missouri bounty hunter bill, but it also failed to move out of committee.
In Arizona, state Republicans proposed a bill that would have incentivized police departments to target people believed to be in the country illegally by awarding them a $2,500 bounty for each arrest that ended in a deportation.
