Outsourcing the Border: An Investigation of Private Technology Companies and Their Role in US Immigration Surveillance

Abstract

Federal agency procurement is the prevailing trend in US immigration surveillance. As demonstrated by the increase in the number and value of contracts signed between the United States Department of Homeland Security and private technological surveillance companies, it is helping the government to achieve its post-9/11 objective of total information awareness amid the increased digitization of the US interior and its borders. Scholars disagree about what is driving this trend, positing variously that federal agency procurement (1) allows the government to access private data that facilitates immigration surveillance but that it is legally prohibited from acquiring directly (2) enables the government to increase the technological capacity and capability of its immigration surveillance operations. This study uses federal contracting data from three of the Department of Homeland Security’s sub-agencies—United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Customs and Border Protection, and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services—to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the veracity of both hypotheses. To conduct the study, a dataset ranging from the years 2004 to 2026 was extracted from the federal contracting aggregator USAspending. Cumulative spending for all three agencies was calculated and analyzed against the years in which key surveillance programs and legislation were implemented. Whilst the analysis shows evidence of the US government acquiring private databases, the hypothesis that it does so in order to circumvent legislation is ultimately not supported by the dataset (Hypothesis 1). However, the hypothesis that the government uses federal agency procurement to increase the technological capacity and capability of its immigration surveillance operations is supported by the dataset (Hypothesis 2). Furthermore, the dataset suggests a focus on scalability and efficiency in the government’s burgeoning immigration surveillance network.