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Krishnamoorthi opposes DHS ‘Bounty hunter’ immigrant plan
The congressman calls proposed use of private contractors a threat to accountability and public trust
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Malvika Choudhary - Wed, 12, Nov 2025
- 12:35 EST
- 15
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Raja Krishnamoorthi / File Photo
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi urged the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to drop a reported plan to hire private contractors to track immigrants for profit, warning that it would “outsource one of the government’s most coercive powers” and risk abuse beyond public oversight.
In a letter sent to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on Nov. 10, the Illinois Democrat and senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform expressed “grave concern” over what he described as a “bounty hunter” model of enforcement.
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The proposal, he wrote, would allow private individuals to “locate, surveil, and report on” members of immigrant communities in exchange for performance-based financial incentives.
“When the government pays private contractors based on how many people they can find, detain, or deliver, it turns them into bounty hunters,” Krishnamoorthi wrote. “In such a system built on quotas and cash rewards with minimal oversight, mistakes are not just possible—they are certain.”
He warned that delegating enforcement powers to profit-driven contractors would “create an apparatus beyond the reach of ordinary checks and balances.”
“When citizens can no longer discern who acts in the name of government, trust gives way to fear,” he wrote. “A government that rules through confusion and coercion rather than law and consent erodes its own legitimacy.”
Krishnamoorthi cited an incident in Illinois where a U.S. citizen was detained by DHS officers who doubted the authenticity of her passport because of her appearance, calling it an example of the dangers of unchecked authority.
Allowing private contractors similar powers, he said, would “deepen fear among law-abiding residents who already feel watched and vulnerable.”
The letter follows reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to allocate up to $180 million for private firms to locate immigrants whose addresses are unverified.
Procurement documents reviewed by investigative outlet 404 Media indicate that contractors would verify tens of thousands of addresses through online searches and, in some cases, physical surveillance.
Civil rights organizations have warned that such privatization of immigration enforcement could lead to privacy violations, racial profiling, and wrongful detentions.
Krishnamoorthi asked DHS to explain what authority allows it to delegate surveillance functions to private entities, what data these contractors would access, and whether they would be permitted to physically pursue or detain individuals.
He also questioned why the department was outsourcing address verification and document delivery instead of relying on trained federal agents.
“Outsourcing immigration enforcement to profit-driven contractors undermines the very trust between government and the people it serves,” Krishnamoorthi concluded. “It risks normalizing a system incompatible with American values and due process.”
DHS has not yet responded to the letter or confirmed details of the contracting plan. Lawmakers and rights groups are expected to seek further oversight in the coming weeks.
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