ICE signs $125M surveillance data contract with Thomson Reuters after contested procurement

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

Immigration and Customs Enforcement signed a five-year, $125 million data analytics contract with Thomson Reuters Special Services on September 17. The deal gives the agency access to the Clear database—property records, social media posts, and geolocation data—to monitor up to 1 million people and identify "potentially criminal and fraudulent behavior" before it happens.

The award followed a turbulent procurement. ICE initially tried to give the contract to Thomson Reuters without competition, reversed course after industry feedback and public pressure, then received exactly one bid when it reopened the process. Privacy advocates argue the system lets ICE compile dossiers on people without probable cause or a warrant.

Why it matters

ICE can now buy real-time personal data on a million people without a warrant and use it to flag targets before any crime occurs.

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Key Indicators

$125M

Contract ceiling value

Five-year blanket purchase agreement signed September 17, 2026.

1 million

Individuals monitored

Contract requires the system to keep tabs on up to 1 million people for ICE and Homeland Security Investigations.

Bids received

Only Thomson Reuters Special Services bid on the final solicitation, despite 50+ responses in initial market research.

$106M

Previous CACI contract value

CACI's five-year continuous monitoring contract with ICE, which ran from September 2020 to March 2025.

$25M/year

Maximum annual payment

Roughly five times the annual rate of the previous Thomson Reuters contract, which totaled $24 million over five years.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

Ever wondered what historical figures would say about today's headlines?

People Involved

Daniel McGrath

Special counsel for oversight, Democracy Forward

Leading oversight advocacy on the contract

Patrick Eddington

Senior fellow, Cato Institute

Public critic of predictive surveillance

Organizations Involved

Thomson Reuters Special Services (TRSS)

Commercial data and analytics subsidiary

Contract awardee

The special services arm of Thomson Reuters that holds the Clear database—property records, social media posts, and geolocation data used by law enforcement.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Federal agency

Contracting agency

The Department of Homeland Security component responsible for immigration enforcement and, through its Homeland Security Investigations unit, transnational crime.

Democracy Forward

Nonprofit advocacy organization

Obtained contract documents via FOIA

A nonprofit that litigates and advocates for government transparency and accountability.

CACI International Inc.

National security and defense technology company

Previous contract holder

Defense technology contractor that held the previous ICE monitoring contract from September 2020 to March 2025.

Timeline

2015 October 2026

8 events Latest: 3 days ago

Tap a bar to jump to that date

October 2026
FedScoop publishes contract details
Latest Revelation

Democracy Forward shares contract documents obtained through FOIA, revealing CACI history and TRSS award details.
3 days ago
September 2026
Performance period begins
Contract

Five-year performance window opens with last order date of September 29, 2031.
6 days ago
ICE signs $125M BPA with Thomson Reuters
Contract

Blanket purchase agreement signed with TRSS. Only one bid received despite 50+ initial market responses.
September 17th, 2026
August 2026
ICE withdraws sole-source plan
Procurement

Agency reverses course after industry feedback and public scrutiny; changes procurement code and plans a competed process.
August 10th, 2026
July 2026
ICE announces sole-source TRSS procurement
Procurement

ICE proposes awarding TRSS the data and analytics contract without competition.
July 2026
March 2025
CACI contract expires
Contract

Monitoring contract ends after roughly $106 million obligated over five years.
March 2025
September 2020
CACI begins $106M ICE monitoring contract
Contract

Five-year deal for continuous monitoring and alert service drawing on deep web data, tracking 1 million individuals.
September 2020
2015
Thomson Reuters begins supplying ICE with Clear data
Contract

First contract giving ICE access to Clear database for deportation tracking.
2015

Scenarios

Congress restricts federal data broker purchases

Possible Resolves by Q3 2027

Discussed by: Privacy advocates including Patrick Eddington (Cato Institute) and Democracy Forward

Congressional hearings following the public disclosure pressure lawmakers to act. A bill emerges limiting federal agencies from purchasing personal data from commercial data brokers without a warrant or court order, citing Fourth Amendment concerns raised by this contract and similar programs.

Legal challenge targets the contract

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Privacy and civil liberties organizations

A lawsuit challenges the contract on Fourth Amendment grounds, arguing that warrantless purchase of location and social media data on a million people violates constitutional protections against unreasonable search. The case could produce an injunction or a ruling that forces ICE to modify how it uses Clear data.

Contract operates with growing obligations

Likely Resolves by Q3 2027

Discussed by: ICE and Thomson Reuters Special Services

The contract proceeds as signed. ICE begins ordering data services under the blanket purchase agreement, with annual obligations expected to approach the $25 million ceiling. The agency extends use of Clear data across immigration enforcement, fraud investigations, and unaccompanied minor tracking.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2002-2003

Total Information Awareness (2002-2003)

DARPA launched a Pentagon research program aimed at building a massive data mining system to predict terrorist activity before it happened. The program proposed pooling credit card records, travel data, medical records, and other personal information into a single analytical system.

Then

Congress canceled funding in 2003 after public backlash and a provision in the Defense Appropriations Act, though the underlying technology migrated to other agencies.

Now

Became a touchstone for debates about predictive surveillance, with critics citing it as proof that the government will expand pre-crime analytics if allowed.

Why this matters now

The ICE contract's goal of identifying "criminal and fraudulent behavior before crime and fraud can materialize" echoes TIA's predictive ambition, but without the public congressional scrutiny that ended the earlier program.

June 2013

PRISM and NSA bulk surveillance revelations (2013)

Edward Snowden disclosed that the National Security Agency was collecting internet communications and metadata from major tech companies including Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook through a program called PRISM, plus phone records of millions of Americans.

Then

Triggered intense public debate, lawsuits, and eventually the USA Freedom Act of 2015, which ended bulk phone metadata collection.

Now

Established a pattern of corporate-government data partnerships that operate under secrecy, with oversight lagging behind capability.

Why this matters now

Shows how government access to commercial data expands quietly through contracts, and that transparency often comes only after disclosure—whether by whistleblower or FOIA.