Together, these teams would operate as intelligence arms of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division. They will take incoming tips and cases, research people online and package the results into files that field offices could use to plan arrests.
The scope of information contractors are expected to collect is broad. The draft instructions specify open source intelligence: public posts, photos and messages on platforms from Facebook to Reddit and TikTok. Analysts may also be tasked with checking more obscure or foreign-based sites, such as the Russian VKontakte.
They would also be armed with powerful commercial databases such as LexisNexis Accurint and Thomson Reuters CLEAR, which unites property records, phone bills, utilities, vehicle registrations and other personal details into searchable files.
The plan requires strict response deadlines. Urgent cases, such as suspected national security threats or people on ICE’s Ten Most Wanted list, must be investigated within 30 minutes. High priority cases get one hour; Lower priority leads must be completed within the business day. ICE expects at least three-quarters of all cases to meet those deadlines, with prime contractors hitting close to 95 percent.
The plan goes beyond staffing. ICE also wants algorithms and asks contractors to explain how they could weave artificial intelligence on the hunt, a request that mirrors other recent proposals. The agency has also set aside more than $1 million a year to equip analysts with the latest surveillance tools.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this year, The Intercept revealed that ICE had floated plans for a system That could automatically scan social media for “negative feelings” toward the agency and flag users believed to show a “prone to violence.” Acquisitions records previously reviewed by 404 Media identified the software used by the agency to prepare files on designated personscollecting personal data and family ties, and even using facial recognition to connect images on the web. Observers cautioned that it was unclear how such technology could distinguish genuine threats from political speech.
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