ICE explored contractor-run intelligence program to support immigration enforcement, records show

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is exploring a large, contractor-supported intelligence program for immigration enforcement, according to public procurement documents that drew fresh scrutiny Monday from the American Civil Liberties Union, which said the plan could increase risks for activists and nonprofits.

The documents do not show a contract award or a confirmed nationwide rollout. Instead, they show an early planning effort. ICE posted a presolicitation Request for Information on Sept. 18 on SAM.gov, the federal contracting portal, under notice ID RFI091826 for a program titled “ERO Overwatch and National Security Enforcement (ERO ONE) — Intelligence Research Specialist Professional Support Services.” The posting included a draft statement of work dated Aug. 20, and responses were due Sept. 25.

ICE stated plainly in the notice: “This RFI is issued for market research purposes only. It is not a solicitation, request for proposal, invitation for bid, or commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or award a contract.”

Even so, the scope outlined in the draft documents is substantial. The statement of work says ICE anticipated needing about 142 contractor Intelligence Research Specialists and two project managers to support ERO ONE at Potomac Center North in Washington and at designated field locations around the country. Enforcement and Removal Operations, or ERO, is the ICE division that handles deportation operations and related enforcement.

“The purpose of this requirement is to obtain experienced Intelligence Research Specialists (IRS) who will provide research, analysis, evaluation, reporting, coordination, and related intelligence support to ERO ONE headquarters and designated field locations,” the draft statement of work says.

The listed duties include intelligence collection support, intelligence research and reporting, intelligence product development, trend and threat analysis, intelligence-gap analysis, network, link and relationship analysis, field intelligence support, and analytical support for operational planning. The documents also say the work could involve classified national security information, law-enforcement-sensitive information, personally identifiable information and other protected government data. The project manager role would require an active Top Secret clearance with eligibility for access to sensitive compartmented information, or SCI, a higher level of classified access.

What appears new in the documents is the scale and distribution of the proposed analyst workforce. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security already use data-linking and case-management tools in immigration enforcement, including systems reported to combine government and commercial data. But the ERO ONE planning documents describe a broad analyst presence supporting headquarters and multiple field operations.

That breadth is central to the ACLU’s concerns. In an analysis published Oct. 19, the civil-liberties group argued that the procurement documents, read alongside the Trump administration’s 2025 domestic-terrorism directive, could open the door to scrutiny of activists, nonprofit groups, donors and government critics. The procurement documents themselves do not say ICE would target those groups, and the ACLU’s claim is an interpretation based on the language of the draft work statement and the wider policy framework.

That framework is National Security Presidential Memorandum-7, issued by the White House on Sept. 25, 2025. The directive told agencies to counter domestic terrorism and organized political violence and to examine networks, including institutional and individual funders and nongovernmental organizations, in that context. Civil-liberties advocates say that kind of network-focused approach, combined with procurement language about identifying “threats” and “relationships,” can risk sweeping in protected political activity.

The ICE draft statement of work also includes guardrails. It describes the arrangement as a non-personal-services contract, meaning the contractors would support the government rather than function as government decision-makers. “Contractor personnel shall not make final Government threat determinations, establish operational priorities, direct enforcement activity, or make other decisions reserved to authorized Government officials,” the draft says.

Those limits matter because the proposed personnel are not sworn agents. They are contractor analysts who, under the draft plan, would provide advisory research and analytical support to enforcement operations.

No public statement from ICE, DHS or the White House specifically confirming operational deployment of ERO ONE was identified in the source material. No public contract award tied to the program was identified, either. For now, the public record shows a planning-stage request for industry feedback on what would be a sizable intelligence support capability for immigration enforcement if the government decides to move forward.