McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) -- The U.S. government is using AI to locate and arrest immigrants who are accused of being in the United States illegally. According to several reports, the Department of Homeland Security is hiring a litany of private contractors and giving them the names of thousan ds of immigrants. The contractors are then using artificial intelligence to find the migrants. Border Report Live: Detention facilities under scrutiny The process of using AI, public records, databases, online information and surveillance is called "skip tracing." It's been used by debt collectors, bail bondsmen and private investigators for years. But reports say DHS is paying private companies billions of dollars to use this process to find immigrants for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to arrest and that's raising ethical concerns. Upwards of 50,000 names per month are being given by the agency every month, according to a story by The Washington Post earlier this year. The American Immigration Council last week published an analysis of this process and says DHS is using new technology and companies that have not previously worked in the immigration industry to "hunt" down immigrants. And it says the agency is ramping up this practice. Migrant girl, 3, allegedly sexually abused at foster home, family says "Each month, private contractors receive tens of thousands of names from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and are asked to locate those individuals as quickly as possible so that ICE can conduct targeted enforcement operations to arrest and detain those individuals. What makes this system new is not just its scale — contractors may receive up to 50,000 names per month, with the program potentially targeting more than 1 million people — but how it is achieved. Contractors are using a mix of data tools, online research, and, increasingly, artificial intelligence to locate people — allowing for a faster and much larger sweep than before," the nonprofit American Immigration Council wrote Thursday in a report: "ICE's Private Bounty Hunters Use AI to Track Immigrants." The process is raising moral and ethical concerns because emerging facial recognition software and AI asisstance is not fool-proof. The nonprofit says this process can lead to the arrest of innocent victims with information given to the federal government by third parties who are paid for their quick turnaround, not necessarily for their accuracy. "Skip tracing has traditionally been used by private entities, its use in government immigration enforcement raises new legal questions about privacy, due process, and the role of private actors in government surveillance," the report says. "Details about which specific databases are being used, how the accuracy of the data is being verified, and how any errors are corrected have not been made public." The American Immigration Council published its analysis after an investigation by Scripps News released earlier this year found13 companies have received open-ended contracts to find and photograph immigrants for ICE arrests. The contracts reportedly were issued in December and total about $1.2 billion. The investigation says some of the companies have no previously experience working in the immigration field. In fight against ICE facemasks, Black Democrats point to history One of the companies, BI Incorporated, is linked to Geo Group, a for-profit prison company that operates ICE detention facilities nationwide. The American Immigration Council says that BI is now working to find immigrants to be locked up by its sister company for unknown periods of time. Border Report located a request for information published by DHS in October that says "DHS ICE has an immediate need for skip tracing and process serving services using government furnished case data with identifiable information, commercial data verification, and physical observation services, to verify alien address information, investigate alternative alien address information, confirm the new location of aliens, and deliver materials/documents to aliens." Letter for request for information published online by DHS in October 2025. (DHS letter) That request for information said that, at the time, the government was "contemplating an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract type with task orders." The deadline to submit information was Nov. 5. The Scripps News report was published in late January and says 13 contracts were issued. Bonuses are issued for speed, earning companies additional money for locating an individual in one to two weeks, The Washington Post reports. The Intercept reported that it estimates that 1.5 million immigrants could be targeted using a mix of digital tools and in-person surveillance. The American Immigration Council says privileged attorney-client information could be collected and shared with ICE under this data sharing. That includes clients' addresses. "Skip tracing is not just about finding people. It is about building a system — a surveillance supply chain in which artificial intelligence amplifies existing legal and ethical concerns. By making it easier to collect, analyze, and act on large amounts of data, AI allows enforcement agencies to operate at a previously unimaginable scale," the American Immigration Council says. Border Report has asked DHS why skip tracing is being used and third-party vendors are being hired. This story will be updated if information is received. Sandra Sanchez can be reached at [email protected]. ...read more read less