ICE Uses Broker’s Tools to ‘Identify Unaccompanied Minors’ and ‘Fraud’

Migration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) wants to renew its contract with another company data broker giant Thomson Reuters at a cost of up to $25 million a year for five years to meet urgent, “multiple” demands that can identify “unaccompanied minors” and anyone involved in “fraud of any kind of public funds,” according to a document published in the federal contract register on Tuesday.

“Because of ICE’s re-prioritization process,” a document states, “there is a need to make information readily available to support the President’s mandate to identify Voter Fraud, Immigration Fraud, and Homeland Security.”

The document does not explain why ICE might need to identify unaccompanied minors, which are usually sent by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or how Thomson Reuters data might be used to combat voter fraud or immigration fraud. Asked for comment, Thomson Reuters spokeswoman Kat Hanley told WIRED that its ICE identification process would include “investigating those who support children entering the country” to ensure the “welfare and safety” of children.

The annual payment of $25 million represents a significant increase in the value of Thomson Reuters’ work with ICE. The past similar The deal was worth $24 million over five years.

Even ICE has been buying more from Thomson Reuters since then 2008The agreement’s justification suggests that the Trump administration hopes to expand the scope of Thomson Reuters data used by federal immigration officials. It is another sign of reach all the time about President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in the document that Thomson Reuters Special Services (TRSS) is the “only contractor” that can provide “continuous monitoring of one million individuals and organizations” and “event-driven analysis,” “real-time information,” “and” risk modeling. The document did not provide examples of the reported incidents or risks.

The deal will give ICE access to several Thomson Reuters databases, the document says. One of these databases is Consolidated Lead Evaluation and Reporting (CLEAR), which provides access to public records and “license plate reading data,” which comes from traffic cameras that can read license plates. Starting 2017Thomson Reuters obtained the information from Vigilant Solutions, a license plate auditing firm now owned by Motorola.

Another Thomson Reuters database mentioned in the document is the Continuous Alerting Batch Solution (CABS), which ICE says pulls records of people who have recently been arrested or had police encounters, including “specific alerts on the last known.”

The deal will also strengthen ICE’s access to Westlaw, a Thomson Reuters database. ICE will also have access to Real Time Incarceration and Arrest Records (RTIA and Thomson Reuters Special Services Entity Authority (TEA), which food being a “smart threat” called RAPID, according to the Thomson Reuters website.

The software that Thomson Reuters sells to ICE, the document says, helps the agency with “continuous monitoring,” “retrieval of court documents,” “risk assessment,” and “risk assessment.” The document does not specify what would harm education.

Representatives of ICE, DHS, and HHS did not respond to requests for comment. A White House spokesman referred WIRED to DHS and ICE.

Unaccompanied minors, minors who arrive in the US alone, are not subject to ICE inspections. The care of these children is overseen by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which is under the HHS umbrella and operates without immigration enforcement. However, in February last year, ICE agents were he was given an extra chance to the database that ORR uses to track unaccompanied minors.