U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has hired a subsidiary of the for-profit prison company GEO Group to aid in hunting down immigrants at their homes and places of work, according to records reviewed by the news site The Intercept.
ICE has secured a deal with surveillance firm BI Incorporated as part of a new program, first reported in October by the same outlet, to use private bounty hunters to determine the locations of immigrants in exchange for monetary bonuses.
BI, which was acquired by GEO Group in 2011, is one of several firms hired by ICE to provide “skip tracing” services. Under this arrangement, teams of corporate investigators use surveillance to track immigrants across the country to their homes and workplaces so federal agents can more easily swoop in and make arrests.
Mark Walter is the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Lakers, a city seriously affected by immigration raids. Walter is also the CEO of Guggenheim Partners, a financial firm managing over $325 billion in assets. Guggenheim holds a 0.38% stake in GEO Group, a private prison corporation that operates ICE detention centers.
The Latino community has criticized the Dodgers organization for its lack of action and silence regarding immigration raids that have deeply affected one of its largest fan bases. Many accuse the Dodgers of showing weak support and minimal solidarity with Latinos, placing the blame squarely on their owner, Mark Walter.
Now, it’s not just the Dodgers—the Lakers are being drawn into the controversy as well. Fans attending Lakers games are increasingly forced to reckon with Walter’s connections to ICE, private prisons, and surveillance companies.
And it hasn’t stopped there. In addition to operating the prisons where detained immigrants are held, GEO Group will now provide ICE with bounty hunters to “hunt” immigrants.
In short, a man who profits from the arrest and detention of immigrants is becoming one of the most powerful figures in Los Angeles professional sports. Records show ICE has already paid BI $1.6 million, with the potential for the contract to grow to as much as $121 million by the time it concludes in 2027.
ICE’s push to privatize its hunt for immigrants has drawn the scrutiny of Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who warned it “invites the very abuses, secrecy, and corruption our founders sought to prevent.”
Neither BI Incorporated nor GEO Group immediately responded to requests for comment.
The deal illustrates a strategy of vertical integration within GEO Group, which has expanded its for-profit immigration detention business. In this case, the corporation stands to be paid by the federal government both to locate immigrants and then to imprison them.
The president’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” earmarked $45 billion for jailing immigrants. “This is a unique moment in our company’s history,” GEO Group CEO J. David Donahue told investors in May, “and we believe we are well-positioned to meet this unprecedented opportunity.”
GEO Group has faced decades of criticism over alleged mismanagement of its facilities and claims of rampant abuse of inmates. In August, The Intercept reported the suicide of a Chinese immigrant held at a GEO Group–operated prison in Pennsylvania. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal complaint over the facility in July, criticizing “horrific conditions,” including repeated instances of medical neglect.
Walter’s companies have also been drawn into legal battles over diversity initiatives. America First Legal, a right-wing group founded by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, filed a federal complaint accusing the Dodgers and Guggenheim Partners of illegal discrimination under the guise of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
The Dodgers declined to comment on the allegations, and Guggenheim Partners did not respond to requests for comment.
Many fans and civil rights advocates see a deep contradiction between the organization’s public image of inclusion and its financial entanglements with systems that harm the very communities it claims to support.
The Dodgers Slapped Latinos in the Face — and the Lakers Are About to Do the Same
