ICE Hires Immigrant Bounty Hunters From Private Prison Company GEO Group

ICE’s decision to hire a subsidiary of the GEO Group to track immigrants is deeply troubling, creating a system that feels dangerous, exploitative, and morally unacceptable. According to records reviewed by The Intercept, ICE brought on the surveillance firm BI Incorporated, owned by GEO Group since 2011, to conduct “skip tracing” investigations that rely on private bounty hunters to locate immigrants in exchange for cash bonuses. This means corporate investigators can track people “to their homes and places of work so federal agents can easily swoop in,” a practice that feels invasive and harmful to communities already living under immense fear.

What makes this even more alarming is the scale of money flowing into this effort. Records show ICE has already paid BI $1.6 million, with the contract potentially ballooning to $121 million by 2027. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi warned that this approach “invites the very abuses, secrecy, and corruption our founders sought to prevent,” a stark reminder that turning surveillance and arrests into a profit machine leads to predictable harm.

The GEO Group stands to gain financially at every step; paid to find immigrants and then paid again to imprison them. As GEO’s CEO openly told investors, “This is a unique moment in our company’s history… we are well-positioned to meet this unprecedented opportunity.” This framing makes clear that human lives are being turned into revenue streams.

This is especially disturbing given GEO’s well-documented history of mistreatment. One facility saw the suicide of a Chinese immigrant, with the ACLU noting “horrific conditions” and repeated medical neglect. A separate lawsuit described “months-long poisoning” of more than 1,300 detainees in California. Even in 2024, a student jailed in a GEO facility said staff delayed care during an asthma attack.

BI’s role extends beyond tracking devices; the firm boasts tools that map “geographic and spatial location data” through Google Maps, raising serious questions about how much personal information private investigators now possess.

ICE’s own contracting documents reveal that bounty hunters can choose their own surveillance methods and will not carry government identification, meaning immigrants may be approached by unknown private actors operating in secrecy.

This expansion of private tracking power is not just wrong. It is dangerous, dehumanizing, and built to financially reward the pursuit of vulnerable people.

Link: The Intercept