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Latin Times
Latin Times
Politics
Mateo Moreno

ICE Just Tripled What It Pays Private Firms To Hunt Down Immigrants

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JANUARY 13: ICE agents detain a person from a residence on January 13, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Trump administration has deployed over 2,400 Department of Homeland Security agents to the state of Minnesota in a push to apprehend undocumented immigrants. (Credit: Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Fresh task orders worth $57.1 million went out this week to the 14 private firms U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pays to find immigrants, with individual payments running roughly three times higher than what each company collected on its first assignment, according to contract records reviewed by the investigative newsletter Project Salt Box. The Wednesday disbursement builds out a privatized locating operation that industry insiders call skip tracing.

A finder's-fee trade moves into deportation work

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