- DHS is reportedly soliciting private contractors—dubbed "bounty hunters"—to capture undocumented immigrants, offering bonuses for high capture rates.
- The move responds to staffing shortfalls despite $75 billion funding, raising oversight, due-process, and civil‑rights concerns.
WASHINGTON—As the Trump administration ramps up its aggressive push for mass deportations, the Department of Homeland Security is quietly exploring a controversial workaround to its staffing shortages: enlisting private bounty hunters to track and round up undocumented immigrants.
The plan, detailed in a procurement document obtained by The Intercept and first reported by The Daily Beast on October 31, envisions contractors handling batches of up to one million cases at a time, complete with bonuses for quick successes—like nabbing a target on the first try or hitting a 90% capture rate within deadlines.
At the helm of this effort is Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the former South Dakota governor who’s earned the moniker “ICE Barbie” for her high-profile stints alongside federal agents, often decked out in tactical gear.
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Noem’s department secured roughly $75 billion through the administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” back in July, earmarked largely for hiring 10,000 new immigration officers by early next year.
But those funds haven’t translated into a flood of recruits. More than a third of applicants are flunking basic fitness tests—think 15 push-ups, 32 sit-ups, and a 1.5-mile run in under 14 minutes—a benchmark one DHS official dismissed as “pathetic” in a recent Atlantic report.
The recruitment crunch isn’t just a numbers game; it’s forcing tough choices. Axios reported last month that chunks of that $75 billion have been rerouted to high-tech surveillance gear, including biometric scanners, real-time location trackers, facial recognition software, and tools to remotely tap into smartphones.
The bounty hunter solicitation, posted the same day as The Daily Beast’s story, would hand contractors “government-furnished case data” to do the legwork, raising eyebrows about oversight and whether these private operatives would face the same fitness hurdles as federal hires.
What’s the Deal with Gangs and Ciminals?
This isn’t Noem’s first brush with immigration’s rough edges. Since taking the reins at DHS in January, she’s been a fixture at enforcement operations nationwide, from Phoenix to New York City.
In April, she joined ICE agents in Arizona to target immigrants wanted for murder and human trafficking, posting photos on X of herself amid the action. A DHS photo release from late January captured her on a removal op in New York, where agents nabbed a reputed Tren de Aragua ringleader alongside NYPD, DEA, and U.S. Marshals.
And in July, during a Tennessee presser, Noem spotlighted arrests of what she called the “worst of the worst,” slamming local officials for resisting federal raids and tying the push to a surge in threats against ICE personnel.
Those threats have escalated into something more sinister, at least according to Noem. In early October, she told Fox & Friends Weekend that “gangs, cartel members, and known terrorist organizations” had slapped bounties of up to $10,000 on specific ICE agents’ heads, particularly in Chicago.
“Our intelligence indicates that these people are organized,” she said, linking the payouts to ambushes and drone surveillance during raids.
A DHS statement on October 14 backed her up, detailing a “tiered bounty system” from Mexican cartels coordinating with U.S. extremists—escalating rewards based on an agent’s rank or the severity of the attack.
“These criminal networks are not just resisting the rule of law, they are waging an organized campaign of terror against the brave men and women who protect our borders and communities,” Noem added in the release.
Propaganda or Misinformation?
Critics, though, aren’t buying it wholesale. Fact-checkers at Factually.co noted in mid-October that while ICE has ramped up ops like “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago—yielding arrests of noncitizens with criminal records—there’s scant public evidence tying violence to cartel-directed bounties.
Reports from Newsweek and The Independent highlighted Noem’s claims but pointed to a lack of concrete proof, like leaked intelligence or named sources. Tensions boiled over later that month when DHS’s X account reposted a TikTok video purporting to show Black youths threatening ICE agents over a $50,000 cartel bounty.
Social media sleuths quickly flagged it as doctored—the original clip, they said, was a joke aimed at Iran, not immigration cops. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) blasted Noem on X before deleting his post: “Kristi – DELETE THIS TWEET or answer for it in Congress.”
DHS defended the share, calling it a raw example of “violent rhetoric” flooding the platform, but the episode drew fresh scrutiny to the department’s social media tactics under Noem’s leadership.
The bounty hunter pivot comes as states, including Noem’s home turf of South Dakota, lean harder into immigration enforcement. Back in February, South Dakota lawmakers floated bills to flag noncitizen status on driver’s licenses, mirroring moves in Iowa.
By May, the state inked a deal letting Highway Patrol officers assist ICE under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act—limited to criminal cases, per Attorney General Marty Jackley, but broad enough to stir fears among immigrant advocates.
Taneeza Islam, CEO of South Dakota Voices for Peace, warned it could chill trafficking victims from reporting crimes, giving abusers leverage to threaten deportations.
Come July, Gov. Larry Rhoden—Noem’s successor—launched “Operation: Prairie Thunder,” a Sioux Falls pilot deploying 10 to 15 troopers twice monthly for saturation patrols, backed by National Guard helicopters and planes for drug busts and parolee hunts.
The first run netted 44 felony drug arrests, but it also funneled more ICE detainees into local jails, prompting transfers of federal inmates to make room. By August, Guard troops were processing deportation paperwork, part of a flurry of activity since Trump’s inauguration.
U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) tried to calm nerves in February, assuring legal immigrants they had “nothing to worry about,” but misinformation has run rampant—a Rapid City Mexican spot debunked raid rumors on Facebook, while Sioux Falls schools reassured diverse families that classes would roll on uninterrupted.
Nationwide, the strain shows. In Illinois, Noem visited in August to tout four deportees and a haul of guns, drugs, and cash, blasting Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for “giving safe harbor to violent criminals.”
She claimed ICE issued over 1,600 detainers there recently, with just 8% honored—echoing gripes from sanctuary jurisdictions.
A September raid in Elgin, which Noem hyped on X, snagged five noncitizens but briefly detained a U.S. citizen and his roommate before releasing them.
DHS insisted no citizens were formally arrested, framing it as a targeted sweep under Operation Midway Blitz.
Administration Claims to Prioritize Violent Criminals
Data underscores the focus on criminals: NewsNation reported in July that while 71.7% of detainees lack records, the administration prioritizes the violent.
Yet lawsuits pile up over due process in speedy removals, and Snopes has fielded claims from ICE vehicle towing hoaxes to In-N-Out freebies for agents.
In rural South Dakota, a June ICE worksite probe at Manitou Equipment and Global Polymer Industries led to eight arrests—mostly Nicaraguans and Guatemalans—for unauthorized employment, with FBI and DEA assist.
As November dawns, the bounty hunter bid hangs in limbo, with DHS mum on timelines. It’s a stark symbol of an administration betting big on private muscle to fulfill Trump’s “invasion”-framed deportation vow, as White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller put it.
But with recruits dropping out, cartels allegedly circling, and states like South Dakota stepping up, the question lingers: Can outsourced hunts deliver without sparking more chaos?
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