Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is set to renew its contract with a subsidiary of data brokerage giant Thomson Reuters. This contract, valued at up to $25 million annually for a duration of five years, aims to address the urgent demand for data to identify “unaccompanied minors” and detect “fraud involving government funds,” as detailed in documents released in the Federal Contract Register on Tuesday.
“ICE’s mission has been re-prioritized.” According to an official document, “Data must be readily available to support the President’s goals of identifying voter fraud, immigration fraud, and ensuring national security.”
The document does not clarify why ICE is focusing on identifying unaccompanied minors—typically overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—or how Thomson Reuters’ data will be leveraged to combat voter and immigration fraud. A spokesperson for Thomson Reuters, Kat Hanley, indicated that ICE’s background checks could involve “vetting the sponsors of children entering the country” to safeguard the children’s “welfare and safety.”
The annual $25 million investment represents a significant increase from previous contracts with Thomson Reuters, which were valued at $24 million over five years for similar services (see equivalent data).
Since then, ICE has procured additional data from Thomson Reuters, with indications suggesting that the Trump administration aims to broaden the utilization of Thomson Reuters’ data by federal immigration entities. This development suggests that the scope of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts continues to expand.
A document from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asserts that Thomson Reuters Special Services (TRSS) is the “only contractor” capable of “continuously monitoring up to one million individuals and entities” through methods such as “event-driven surveillance,” “real-time alerts,” and “model-based risk scoring.” However, the document lacks specifics on the types of events or risks monitored.
The agreement permits ICE to retain access to multiple proprietary databases from Thomson Reuters, including the Consolidated Lead Evaluation and Reporting (CLEAR) system, which provides public records access and data from license plate reading cameras for roadside surveillance. This feature was added following Thomson Reuters’ acquisition of Vigilant Solutions, a leader in automated license plate recognition, now owned by Motorola.
Another named database is the Continuous Alerting Batch Solution (CABS), which provides ICE with records of individuals who have recently interacted with law enforcement, including “real-time alerts on last known location data.”
This deal furthermore allows ICE to utilize Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw database for court records. ICE will also keep access to real-time incarceration and arrest records (RTIA and Thomson Reuters Special Services Enterprise Agency (TEA)). Data from Thomson Reuters’ rapid access feed is integrated into its “risk intelligence” platform known as RAPID.
The software bundle that Thomson Reuters offers to ICE facilitates “continuous monitoring,” “court document searches,” “risk assessments,” and “academic risk reporting.” However, it does not specify what constitutes “academic risk.”
Representatives from ICE, DHS, and HHS have not responded to requests for comment. A spokesperson from the White House addressed inquiries regarding the roles of DHS and ICE to WIRED.
Unaccompanied minors—children arriving in the U.S. alone—are typically outside ICE’s jurisdiction. Their care is managed by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), operating under HHS and separate from immigration enforcement. However, ICE agents received additional access last February to a database utilized by ORR for tracking unaccompanied minors for monitoring purposes.
Source: www.wired.com