Lawmaker Sounds Alarm Over Plan to Hire Bounty Hunters for ICE.
US Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi has expressed grave concerns over a proposed plan by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to award contracts to private bounty hunters, known as "skip tracers", to track down immigrants living in the US.
According to the plan, these private investigators will be tasked with conducting surveillance and pinpointing the home address of undocumented immigrants. The bonus payments they receive will depend on how many immigrants they help apprehend and how quickly.
Krishnamoorthi believes that this outsourcing proposal raises worrying questions about accountability. In a letter sent to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, he states that allowing private contractors to perform enforcement activities under performance-based financial incentives essentially turns bounty hunting into an outsourced function with little oversight or transparency.
"This system built on quotas and cash rewards with minimal oversight, mistakes are not just possible -- they are certain," Krishnamoorthi writes. "The pressure to hit numbers replaces the judgment, training, and accountability that should define real law enforcement."
Krishnamoorthi is calling for more clarity on how this private bounty hunter system would work, including whether contractors will be required to identify themselves as agents of the federal government.
ICE has refused to comment on Krishnamoorthi's inquiry, but claims that the Request for Information (RFI) issued by ICE is simply for planning purposes and does not restrict any acquisition approach.
US Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi has expressed grave concerns over a proposed plan by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to award contracts to private bounty hunters, known as "skip tracers", to track down immigrants living in the US.
According to the plan, these private investigators will be tasked with conducting surveillance and pinpointing the home address of undocumented immigrants. The bonus payments they receive will depend on how many immigrants they help apprehend and how quickly.
Krishnamoorthi believes that this outsourcing proposal raises worrying questions about accountability. In a letter sent to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, he states that allowing private contractors to perform enforcement activities under performance-based financial incentives essentially turns bounty hunting into an outsourced function with little oversight or transparency.
"This system built on quotas and cash rewards with minimal oversight, mistakes are not just possible -- they are certain," Krishnamoorthi writes. "The pressure to hit numbers replaces the judgment, training, and accountability that should define real law enforcement."
Krishnamoorthi is calling for more clarity on how this private bounty hunter system would work, including whether contractors will be required to identify themselves as agents of the federal government.
ICE has refused to comment on Krishnamoorthi's inquiry, but claims that the Request for Information (RFI) issued by ICE is simply for planning purposes and does not restrict any acquisition approach.
This plan sounds super shady to me! I mean, private bounty hunters? That's like something out of a movie where they have these super-cool trackers who just happen to be experts in capturing fugitives... but no, this is real life 
. And the fact that they're getting paid on performance-based incentives means there's gonna be some sketchy stuff going down. Like, what if they misidentify someone or cause a panic? It's not exactly law enforcement, it's more like private security with a price tag 
. We need to keep an eye on this and make sure that whatever system is put in place has some real oversight and accountability 
.
. krishnamoorthi is right to sound the alarm and demand more clarity on what's going on here 
. we need to make sure that any law enforcement activities in this country are carried out with transparency, accountability, and respect for human rights 
It's just not right to tie someone's pay to their success in catching folks without a visa. It's all about the benjamins, not the job at hand. And what if there's a mix-up and someone gets caught by mistake? We need more transparency in our law enforcement, not less... 
... if they're gonna outsource bounty hunting it's like they're giving private companies a green light to just go rogue and start harassing ppl who are already living in the country without proper papers... what's next? having them work with private security firms to spy on ppl? it's super fishy that ice is keeping this info under wraps... shouldn't we know how many contractors will be involved, what their roles are, and how they'll be held accountable? this sounds like a recipe for disaster 
I don't think this plan sounds right at all. Like, who gets to decide when someone's a "threat" or not? 
it's one thing to have a strict immigration system in place, but outsource it to private contractors with bonuses on the line? that's just asking for trouble... 
This plan is a total nightmare! Private bounty hunters being rewarded for tracking down immigrants? It's like they're treating people like fugitives or something 
And what about accountability? If someone gets paid based on how many ppl they apprehend, they're gonna just go for the easiest targets and ignore everyone else. It's like outsourcing justice to who-knows-who 
. We need real law enforcement, not some sketchy private contractors making a buck off people's mistakes 
.
