Immigration and Customs Enforcement is fast-tracking a $100 million domestic surveillance program called the Enforcement and Removal Operations Overwatch and National Security Enforcement, or ERO ONE, according to federal procurement documents posted in September. The program would deploy 142 intelligence agents plus two project managers to more than two dozen cities and Washington, D.C.
Under ERO ONE, agents would analyze classified and unclassified information to identify “trends, patterns, relationships, threats, and intelligence gaps” and provide briefings for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations missions, according to a statement of work published September 18. The program timeline suggests ICE will award the contract around February 2026, according to a forecasting document.
A key concern for experts is the type of analysis ERO ONE agents will conduct. Contractors will perform “network, link and relationship” analyses that examine not only specific targets but also every person connected to them, including household members, family, friends, acquaintances, and carpool partners. According to the statement of work, contractors will research “known, reported, or potential relationships; recurring patterns; organizational structures; associations; areas of convergence; temporal or geographic connections” and prepare link charts, network diagrams, and analytical summaries for ICE use.
Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, told the Prospect the program “looks dangerously like the construction of an internal spying agency” and called it “a nightmare in the making.” Michael Wriston, a former military intelligence analyst and founder of ICE watchdog group Project Salt Box, noted that this type of analysis mirrors techniques used in military operations abroad and said “these are the kinds of things that happened in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, for years. Now that methodology is being brought into the ICE space.”
Federal documents do not specify what information sources agents will analyze or what specific targets they will pursue. All agents must possess active top secret clearance with eligibility to access Sensitive Compartmented Information managed by the Director of National Intelligence.
Brian Murphy, a government contractor who worked 25 years with ICE’s parent agency DHS, told the Prospect the rapid timeline and security clearance requirements suggest immediate deployment. He expressed concern that the program’s broad description could extend beyond immigration enforcement. “I think it’s darker than that,” Murphy said, noting that ICE could use the intelligence to target people with identities and views the Trump administration dislikes.
The 142 agents will be stationed in Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Dallas, D.C., Denver, Detroit, El Paso, Harlingen, Houston, Laguna Niguel, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Paul, and Williston, Vermont.
Key facts
- ICE is fast-tracking a $100 million domestic surveillance program called ERO ONE to deploy 142 intelligence agents to 25+ cities
- Agents will conduct network analysis examining targets and everyone connected to them, including family, friends, and acquaintances
- The program will analyze both classified and unclassified information to identify patterns, relationships, and threats
- All agents must have active top secret clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information
- The contract timeline suggests ICE will award the contract around February 2026
- Experts including the ACLU warn the program could be used to target political opponents and protesters, not just immigrants