Ex-Law Enforcement Officials Offered $300 per Case to Locate Immigrants for ICE: Report

An ICE officer's badge is seen as federal agents patrol the halls of immigration court at the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building on June 10, 2025 in New York City. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

A pilot project is offering former law enforcement and military personnel $300 for each immigrant address they can verify for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a new report from 404 Media.

The effort, which does not appear to require participants to hold private-investigator licenses, relies on individuals who are now effectively members of the general public to conduct physical surveillance.

404 Media reports that some recruits were contacted through LinkedIn and told they would be assigned vehicles to monitor targets. One person briefed on the plan said: "the more I listened to it, the more I'm like, something doesn't sound right."

The project is being organized by Feds United, a federal contracting consultancy run by former senior ICE official Jim Brown. In an October LinkedIn post, Brown said the company was seeking retired law enforcement officers and military personnel in the Washington, D.C.–Northern Virginia area for a 90-day pilot to "validate addresses associated with subjects of interest."

He also wrote that participants would work on surveillance teams in an "OBSERVE and REPORT only" role. Two people familiar with the plans told 404 Media the work would be conducted for ICE.

Linkedin post by Jim Brown, president of government contractor consultant Feds United and a former longtime senior ICE official, saying he's looking for retired law enforcement or military personnel that "can validate addresses associated with subjects of interest" Jim Brown's Linkedin page

People briefed on the pilot said teams would receive lists of addresses derived from sources such as utility records and would be paid $300 for each address successfully verified, up to a maximum of $30,000. Recruits were reportedly instructed not to speak with neighbors and to avoid any direct interaction. None of the individuals who spoke to 404 Media were licensed private investigators, despite state licensing requirements for such work in Virginia and Washington, D.C.

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The pilot aligns with ICE's broader strategy to expand the use of bounty hunters and skip tracers. Procurement documents reviewed by 404 Media show that ICE has allocated $180 million for such activities and is seeking contractor support for a "docket size" of 1.5 million cases. One document states that vendors may "physically verify the alien's location and presence," preferably at a home address.

Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, criticized the initiative, telling 404 Media, "It is outrageous that ICE is funneling taxpayer money into a surveillance operation aimed at immigrants instead of real threats."

A separate ICE procurement request, published October 31 and reported by The Intercept, indicates the agency is seeking contractors capable of locating immigrants in batches of 10,000 cases, with potential expansion "up to 1,000,000."

That request describes "skip tracing and process serving services," physical observation, and the use of commercial databases and off-the-shelf surveillance tools. It also outlines an "incentive based pricing structure," including performance bonuses for identifying correct addresses quickly or meeting accuracy benchmarks.

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Tags: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Immigration, Department of Homeland Security