Congressman Krishnamoorthi Warns Against DHS ‘Bounty Hunter’ Plan to Locate and Track Immigrants

WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem expressing "grave concern" over reports that DHS may hire private contractors to "locate, surveil, and report on individuals within immigrant communities for profit."

In his letter, Congressman Krishnamoorthi warned that the proposal would "outsource one of the government's most coercive powers to actors who operate with little oversight and limited public accountability." He wrote that such an arrangement "risks creating an enforcement apparatus that functions beyond the reach of ordinary checks and balances."

Congressman Krishnamoorthi cautioned that "once the state begins contracting out its power to police, it invites the very abuses, secrecy, and corruption our founders sought to prevent." He added, "When citizens can no longer discern who acts in the name of government, trust gives way to fear. A government that rules through confusion and coercion rather than law and consent erodes its own legitimacy and the freedoms it exists to protect."

The Congressman also outlined the dangers of performance-based enforcement contracts that would effectively establish a "bounty hunter" model: "When the government pays private contractors based on how many people they can find, detain, or deliver, it turns them into bounty hunters. In such a system built on quotas and cash rewards with minimal oversight, mistakes are not just possible-they are certain."

Congressman Krishnamoorthi cited recent incidents of discriminatory enforcement, including a case in Illinois where a U.S. citizen was detained by DHS officers who "refused to believe her U.S. passport was real-because her appearance did not fit their assumptions about what someone with her last name ought to look like." He warned that allowing private individuals to perform similar functions "will inevitably chill civic participation and deepen fear among law-abiding residents who already feel watched and vulnerable."

Drawing historical parallels, Congressman Krishnamoorthi wrote that "when governments blur the line between official authority and private surveillance, societies inevitably pay a steep price in lost trust and personal freedom." He added, "While today's circumstances are different, any system that rewards private actors for reporting on one another risks repeating those same mistakes-undermining community cohesion, eroding the rule of law, and betraying American values."

Congressman Krishnamoorthi's letter calls on DHS to answer key questions about the scope and legality of the proposed program, including:

• What statutory or regulatory authority allows DHS to delegate investigatory or surveillance functions to private contractors?
• What personal or location data would these contractors have access to?
• What oversight mechanisms and identification requirements would be in place to prevent harassment, trespass, or unlawful surveillance?
• Would contractors be authorized or incentivized to physically confront, detain, or pursue individuals?
• Why is DHS outsourcing address verification and document delivery rather than relying on trained federal agents?

Congressman Krishnamoorthi concluded by emphasizing that "outsourcing immigration enforcement to profit-driven contractors undermines the very trust between government and the people it serves, and risks normalizing a system incompatible with American values and due process."

A copy of the letter is available here.