Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeks a contractor to plan a recruiting campaign, deliver marketing and provide recruiters to bring on the additional law enforcement officers mandated by President Trump. ICE proposes to pay a flat rate per hire, 80 percent upon issuance of an offer and 20 percent when the employee comes aboard, Government Executive reported Feb. 1.
Trump’s Jan. 25, 2017, executive order on interior immigration enforcement called on ICE to hire 10,000 enforcement and removal officers. ICE has said it will need another 6,597 support personnel to handle the workforce expansion, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Feb. 1.
According to the ICE draft statement of objectives (SOO) circulated for industry comment Jan. 18, the agency expects the winning company to “manage the full life cycle of the hiring process from job posting through onboarding.” This would include providing “expert market research, data analytics, advertising, recruitment, and hiring expertise,” according to the draft SOO. Responses to the draft were due Jan. 25.
The winning bidder would be responsible for hiring ICE criminal investigators, deportation agents and non-law-enforcement personnel under a three-year contract. “There is intense competition for a shrinking pool of candidates for law enforcement officers (LEOs) and a need for a large volume of interested, well-qualified applicants to maintain Congressionally-mandated staffing levels,” according to the Jan. 18 document. Eighteen companies, including IBM, have expressed interest in the contract.
ICE’s Homeland Security sister agency, Customs and Border Patrol, also sought private sector help in hiring 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents as directed by Trump in a second executive order issued Jan. 25. CBP contracted with Accenture for up to $297 million over five years to help hire the border agents, plus 2,500 more for its Air and Marine Operations, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The cost-per-hire amount of nearly $40,000 raised concern with Sen. Claire McCaskil (D-Mo.), who questioned CBP in a Jan. 3 letter, Washington Technology reported Jan. 5.
