Millions invested to search for and deport migrants in 2026
Trump's immigration offensive enriches companies that profit from the division and pain of Latino families
To achieve its goal, the Department of Homeland Security The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has significantly increased the number of contracts it signs with companies specializing in surveillance and tracking.
“The Trump administration’s increased use of surveillance tools, both digital and physical, is yet another example of how its all-out war against immigrants continues unchecked by Republicans in Congress, even though its methods continue to negatively impact U.S. citizens and immigrants without criminal records,” Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragan of the 44th District told La Opinion.
Immigrant Tracking
As part of a new program, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has partnered with the surveillance firm BI Incorporated—which was acquired in 2011 by GEO Group, the private immigration prison giant—to use private investigators—known as bounty hunters—to determine the current, past, or alternative locations of immigrants in exchange for monetary compensation.
BI Incorporated, whose parent company is located in Boulder, Colorado, but with a presence in California, Florida, New York, Texas, and Indiana, has teams of corporate investigators who use surveillance to track immigrants across the country.
These people-tracking services involve advanced location searches using identifiable information, verification of business data, and physical observation to verify current, past, or alternative addresses of immigrants included on the federal government's list of people not yet detained.
“Ethnic cleansing”
“The idea of ??mass deportation is explained as ethnic cleansing, deporting immigrants, giving the white community the opportunity to reproduce, and, on the other hand, we must remember that hate is a profitable business,” said Miguel Tinker Salas, professor emeritus of history at Pomona College.
“Let us remember that hate is a very powerful instrument to mobilize a sector of the population that is sold the idea that the country's [economic] crisis is caused by immigration, when the reality is that they are the cause of the concentration of wealth in this country,” the professor observed.
50,000 cases per month to investigate and millions in profits
The government has also managed to contract the company EnProVera Corporation, of Tampa, Florida, for $2.6 million. The tasks assigned by the DHS's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and ICE include advanced location investigations using automated and manual real-time tracking and thorough investigations using search engines. Federal authorities would assign the company approximately 50,000 cases to verify addresses within the United States. According to the biography and work experience of Larry Grant, CEO of EnProVera, this includes “conducting clandestine operations abroad, preparing a highly classified study on a foreign nation's technical capabilities,” and “designing intelligence systems to support combat operations.” The largest anticipated profits from the nationwide search for immigrants go to Capgemini Government Solutions, a federal consulting firm based in McLean, Virginia. Its potential profit is estimated at over $365 million. The initial $4.8 million contract provides ICE with nationwide people-locating services. The responsibilities are to provide investigation and background check services for residents in Washington.
In this case, the government requires the company to collect photos and documents to verify residency or employment. Each month, approximately 50,000 last known addresses are assigned for investigation.
Meanwhile, Bluehawk, a Florida-based company, could receive the second-largest payment at over $200 million.
The initial $2.7 million contract, agreed upon on December 16, 2025, would conclude on March 15, 2026. The investigation targets immigrants in Washington, D.C.
In September, Bluehawk announced it would begin counterintelligence work for the Department of Homeland Security, The Intercept reported.She added: “Like other contractors selected by ICE, the company is focusing on immigration after honing its capabilities in military and intelligence operations during the war on terror. The company’s advisors include former Defense Intelligence Agency Director Ronald Burgess and Dell Dailey, a retired Army lieutenant general who led the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command after the 9/11 attacks.” Congresswoman Barragan indicated that the administration has spared no expense in persecuting immigrants in this country. “They continue to look for new ways to prevent many immigrants from entering and to expel those who are here with legal protection,” she explained. “This frontal assault on immigrants will not end while Trump is in power, unless Republican members of Congress and the American public raise their voices and say enough is enough.”
He considered that the Democrats in the House of Representatives continue to demand accountability from the Trump administration through lawsuits, oversight visits, public hearings, withholding funds, and introducing legislation.
However, he lamented that they do not have true allies in Congress, “since Republicans have refused to oppose Trump and his immigration control measures. We have achieved some victories in the courts, and the constant media attention on his cruel and inhumane actions has influenced public opinion. We will not stop until our immigrant families and communities are no longer terrorized.”
'Immoral, wrong, and un-American'
Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez (California/34) told La Opinion that “any company that Profiting from the fear, suffering, and surveillance of immigrant families is immoral and generates profits from information that should supposedly be private.”
“Turning human beings into financial targets is wrong and un-American. These corporations are fueling Trump’s national police force and personnel, created solely to separate families,” she added. “But we Democrats are fighting back, and we are winning.”
Gomez helped in the lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop its attempt to prevent members of Congress from conducting unannounced inspections of detention centers. “Now, I am using that victory to go into these facilities, demand accountability, and expose the brutal conditions to which detainees are subjected. We will not allow these abuses to go unpunished, and I will continue to call them out every time I see them.”
Indeed, in a ruling issued on December 17, 2025,U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb granted a request from Democratic members of Congress to suspend ICE's policy requiring lawmakers to give seven days' notice before visiting certain facilities. The ICE Office of Public Affairs did not respond to specific questions regarding the companies that received contracts before press time.

