ICE Renews $25 Million Thomson Reuters Contract for Data Monitoring Amid Scrutiny
The agreement with Thomson Reuters Special Services grants Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to license plate reader data and incarceration records, coinciding with heightened debate over sponsor vetting and recent use-of-force incidents.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has renewed a contract with Thomson Reuters Special Services (TRSS) for up to $25 million annually over a five-year period. The agreement expands the agency’s access to proprietary databases, including CLEAR, which provides license plate reader data, and CABS, which tracks incarceration and law enforcement contacts. The renewal coincides with increased scrutiny of sponsor vetting processes for unaccompanied minors and follows recent incidents involving ICE use of force.
The stated purpose of the data access is to identify "unaccompanied minors" and detect "fraud of government funds," including voter and immigration fraud. ICE claims there is an "urgent, 'multiplied' demand" for data due to a "re-prioritized mission" under the Trump administration. A government employee, speaking anonymously, confirmed that DHS agents, including ICE, will use Thomson Reuters databases to background-check potential sponsors for unaccompanied minors.
ICE asserts that TRSS is the "only contractor" capable of providing continuous monitoring of up to one million individuals with real-time alerts and risk scoring, though no specific examples of these risks were provided in the contract document. The contract maintains access to license plate reader data sourced from Vigilant Solutions (now owned by Motorola) since 2017.
Approximately 200 Thomson Reuters employees signed a letter in March urging the company not to renew its ICE contract. A shareholder resolution demanding a review of the human rights implications of ICE contracts failed at Thomson Reuters’ annual meeting in early June, receiving only 3% support.
ICE agents recently shot and killed two individuals, Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Maine and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, with agents citing fear for public safety. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has proposed a rule to authorise examinations of unaccompanied children for "gang-related tattoos and markings" and stricter background checks for sponsors.
