The Department of Homeland Security, now under the leadership of Kristi Noem, is weighing whether to hire private contractors to help track down undocumented immigrants—an idea that, on paper, resembles a system of paid bounty hunters.
DHS Is Looking For ‘Skip Tracers’
The proposal came to light after The Intercept published an internal DHS document on Saturday detailing what it called a “Request for Information” from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The request seeks companies capable of providing “Skip Tracing and Process Serving Services” using government-furnished data to locate immigrants who have fallen out of contact with federal authorities.
What The Heck Is Skip Tracing?
Jason Bitner has been apprehending fugitives for nearly two decades. Bitner started working as a bounty hunter in 2001, but attained a license to become a bail bondsman in 2012. The tools of the trade include a twelve-gauge shotgun and utility belt equipped with handcuffs, shackles, crowd-control mace, batons, stun gun and even sneaky detective gadgets like an eyepiece that reverses a door s peephole view. Bounty 3
Skip tracing, a term borrowed from debt collection, refers to the process of finding people who have “disappeared, whether intentionally or unintentionally,” by piecing together digital breadcrumbs—addresses, phone records, social media profiles, and other personal data. According to the document, contractors could receive dockets of 10,000 cases at a time, and ICE reserves the right to assign up to one million names.
Performance Based Bounty Hunting
July 31, 2017; Trenton, NJ, USA; Duane ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’ Chapman stands by during a press conference Monday, July 31, 2017 in Trenton with the family of Christian Phillip Nolan Rodgers, who was murdered by a man released on New Jersey’s ‘Bail Reform’ initiative. Mandatory Credit: Joe Lamberti-USA TODAY NETWORK
The agency is also considering what it calls an “incentive-based pricing structure.” In plain terms, that means cash bonuses for accuracy or speed. One scenario described in the document suggests a bonus for locating a person’s correct address on the first try. The system, if implemented, would make immigration enforcement partially performance-based—rewarding companies not unlike a private bounty system.
This Plan Won’t Make DHS More Popular
This year has already seen an increase in ICE activity nationwide. Raids in major cities like Los Angeles and Chicago have triggered widespread protests and renewed criticism of the administration’s approach to immigration. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker issued a public plea last week, asking the federal government to pause operations in Chicago during Halloween weekend. “Illinois families deserve to spend Halloween weekend without fear,” Pritzker said in a statement. “No child should be forced to inhale tear gas or other chemical agents while trick or treating in their own neighborhood.” Noem, who was recently appointed to head DHS after a political reshuffling in Trump’s cabinet, dismissed Pritzker’s comments as “shameful.” She defended the agency’s actions and suggested that state leaders should show more appreciation for federal law enforcement. “It’s unfortunate that he does not recognize how important the work that we do is,” she said.
Will America Go All In on Privatized Bounty Hunters?
The proposal signals how aggressively the administration plans to pursue Trump’s deportation agenda—outsourcing even parts of the enforcement process to private industry. Critics warn that a system of paid trackers blurs ethical lines and risks incentivizing mistakes, profiling, or outright abuse.
