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Right now, the US government is spending billions of taxpayer dollars on private contractors to run ICE operations, and all but one of the contractors have been under investigation for:

• Overbilling government contracts 
• Falsified reports
• Misuse of authority
• Holding unaccompanied minors unlawfully 
• Falsified firearms qualifications 
• Labor abuse 
• Unsafe conditions 
• Detainee mistreatment and death
• Deleting video evidence 
• Unlicensed security operations 
• Breach of contract 

Many of these contractors are also posing as regular ICE agents (already notorious for shocking behavior); both groups appear in disturbing online footage wearing balaclavas and often full military combat gear on American soil, swarming unarmed, nonthreatening immigrants, and US citizens at flea markets, car washes, and Home Depots.  

This behavior exceeds professional misconduct— it’s often brutal, even sadistic. The real danger lies not just in the violence or legal breaches, but in the deliberate anonymity: a strategy that shields perpetrators, erodes accountability, and legitimizes lawlessness under the cover of state authority.

Their lawless anonymity — masked faces, no IDs — prevents the public from identifying anyone, let alone distinguishing between legitimate federal agents, rogue contractors, and actual unsanctioned criminals. Meanwhile, all these individuals exploit their concealed identities to avoid responsibility for outrageous criminal actions. (Go here and here to see a few ugly examples.)

Repeated operational failures include:

• Muzzle-sweeping civilians and fellow agents
• Risking friendly fire with poor firearm discipline
• Severely excessive force and uncontrolled takedowns
• Disorganized, chaotic team movements
• Lack of leadership and command presence
• Ignoring standard operating procedures
• Dangerous close-quarters defensive tactics

This continuing misconduct reflects the actions of unqualified or untrained personnel and exposes serious failures in operational training, oversight, and accountability within the agencies involved.

These private contractors also all lack qualified immunity, leaving them open to prosecution — which many believe is the actual reason for the masks. Victims can sue for civil rights violations, false arrest, personal injury, and wrongful death.

The troubling institutional records of these contractors highlight a pattern of profiteering, systemic accountability failures, repeated legal violations, and a dangerous erosion of ethical standards, pushing law enforcement toward unchecked privatization.

Key Financial Figures:

• GEO Group ICE revenue (2022) $1.05 billion
• CoreCivic ICE revenue (2022) $552 million
• Total ICE detention funding (FY2023) $2.9 billion
• Immigration detention spending (2018) $4.1 billion
• CSI Aviation Ice air-charter contract (2024) $3.6 billion ($8K/hr flight rate)
• ICE no-bid contract for CSI (2025) $128 million

Contractors Involved: 

• G4S Secure Solutions Inc.: Detention, transfers; banned from arresting in CA jails/prisons
• Akal Security: Guarding detention centers, federal facilities
• MVM, Inc: Transporting unaccompanied minors for ICE
• Triple Canopy (Constellis): Federal security contracts
• CoreCivic (formerly CCA): Detention center operation
• CSI Aviation Services: Air transport of detainees
• PAE Aviation & Technical Services: Border operations support
• TigerSwan: Surveillance, security services
• Inter-Con Security, Metropolitan Security Services (Walden Security), and NaphCare: Detention/courthouse support

Legal Boundaries of the State

Former acting ICE Director John Sandweg and legal experts emphasize that only sworn federal agents can legally perform immigration arrests; outsourcing this authority is plainly unlawful. 

Federal immigration officers derive their powers from 8 US Code § 1357, which explicitly limits arrest authority to properly deputized federal agents. Under the 287(g) Program, only authorized state or local law enforcement officers — and only after specialized training and supervision — can assist ICE. 

Private contractors can’t be deputized and have no lawful authority to arrest or detain. As Jenny Zhao of Asian Americans Advancing Justice said, “federal law prohibits ICE from using private security to make immigration arrests.”

Evidence of Misconduct

Yet video evidence — including from ICE itself and reports from Detention Network — shows masked and unidentifiable individuals conducting arrests, many of whom fail to meet federal physical and professional standards, lack appropriate height and weight requirements, as well as operational discipline. 

Some even bear white-supremacist tattoos, which are banned in federal law enforcement

https://twitter.com/Suzierizzo1/status/1928868697420292382

It is not mere speculation that many of these contractors and agents are operating outside legal boundaries.

The G4S case exposed ICE’s illegal use of unauthorized personnel. In California, ICE deployed private guards from G4S to arrest detainees — an unlawful practice. 

A 2022 lawsuit forced a settlement banning this in Los Angeles and San Francisco, yet similar  arrests by unauthorized contractors persist across the country, and documents show ICE is even expanding this unlawful program.

Reason For Concern

There are currently 737 ICE agreements between ICE and state or local law enforcement in 40 states — but none in California, owing to the restrictions in SB 54, the “California Values Act.” 

According to ICE documents, the agency employs approximately 20,000 personnel nationwide, including 104 Fugitive Operations teams spread across the country. However, estimates show only about 35 percent of agency personnel are actually assigned to field enforcement units like Fugitive Operations. 

Given the limited resources, ICE’s significantly expanded operations in California appear to be not only excessive, but also politically driven and only possible with the use of private contractors.

The best-selling author Jeff Pearlman and others have shared social media posts, including a widely viewed Reddit thread with current and former corrections officers, alleging — based on the appearance and conduct of “agents” — that ICE may be using contracted corrections officers or out-of-state “deputies” in California, possibly without legal authority or under a vague federal designation.

More than 100,000 people now follow subreddits like r/ICE_raids, r/LaMigra, and r/EyesOnICE, and Migrant Insider where immigration lawyers, journalists, advocates, and the public report real-time “ICE” abuses. 

The Constitution

Fourth Amendment protections require lawfully authorized officers for enforcement of US law. Legal accountability is enforced under 42 US Code § 1983 (for state actors) and Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents (for federal agents).

Unauthorized arrests do not simply violate civil rights — they delegitimize the state and breed public distrust.

The Legacy of Deception

Many of these misconduct issues are not new — there is a documented history of federal agents compromising investigations as a result of their extremist affiliations and visible tattoos. ICE agents also routinely use deceptive tactics known as “ICE ruses,” lying about their identity or purpose to the public and officials.

The history of agents unlawfully concealing their identities during arrests goes back more than 50 years, including United States v. Corrigan (10th Cir., 1977) and United States v. Goldson and Perkins (2nd and 1st Circuits,1992). 

Under the 2021 National Defence Authorization Act (HR 6395), outside of authorized undercover operations, federal agents are required to clearly identify themselves during arrests. Failing to do so violates federal law (18 US Code § 912) and contravenes established federal protocols.

The Unseen Threat

Recent political assassinations in Minnesota and an attempted rape in Brooklyn—both by men posing as law enforcement—show that when real officers fail to identify themselves, it’s not just irresponsible; it’s dangerous, especially in “stand-your-ground” states, where that confusion can legitimately get both civilians and officers killed.

But this erosion of trust in authority goes beyond just public safety.  It reaches deep into the labor force targeting the most vulnerable. Undocumented workers — so vital to construction, agriculture, manufacturing, and hospitality — are being systematically disappeared by the state, crippling the U.S. economy.

At the center of it all is a shadowy, unaccountable force, one that’s not just dismantling the rule of law, but actively threatening American democracy itself.