ANALYSIS
French IT group Capgemini is facing growing scrutiny over a controversial contract between its US subsidiary and ICE. While the company says the deal is “not currently being executed” and that it became aware of the contract “through public sources”, investigations by several French media outlets reveal a relationship stretching back nearly two decades.
Issued on: 30/01/2026
By: Mehdi BOUZOUINA
Masked law enforcement officers, including HSI and ICE agents, walk into an immigration court in Phoenix, Arizona, US, May 21, 2025 © Caitlin O'Hara, Reuters
French IT firm Capgemini is drawing intensified scrutiny as questions emerge over the nature and scope of a contract between its US subsidiary, Capgemini Government Solutions (CGS), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The contract emerged last week after it was first revealed by independent media outlet l’Observatoire des multinationales. It concerns “skip tracing” services – a form of data-driven locating and tracking of individuals whose whereabouts are unknown – used by ICE to verify home and work addresses and support removal operations. The framework agreement is capped at over $365 million, with nearly $4.8 million already committed.
‘Bounty hunters’ and financial stakes
In practical terms, contractors use government-supplied case data alongside commercial databases, public records, phone and social media information and even physical observation to confirm a person’s location for enforcement purposes.
The solicitation, revealed by US magazine Wired in October, outlines an incentive structure offering monetary bonuses for high performance, with companies assigned thousands of cases at a time. To meet these targets, contractors are expected to carry out “commercial data verification” and, if required, “physical observation services” to verify the address information.
Wired described parts of the initiative as relying on private "bounty hunters" paid to locate and track immigrants. A language echoed by The Intercept, which reported on December 23 that at least 10 companies had already earned more than $1 million and could collectively make well over $1 billion from the programme through 2027. The largest potential single share, the investigative outlet outlined, was expected to go to Capgemini Government Solutions.
Capgemini group CEO Aiman Ezzat said Sunday on LinkedIn that senior management had only recently become aware of the contract “through public sources”, adding that it was “not currently being executed” and was subject to legal challenge. An internal message sent to staff and seen by AFP said the US subsidiary had launched a process to examine the contents of the deal, as scrutiny intensified from unions, politicians and investors.
According to The Washington Post, ICE told prospective contractors in a written Q&A in November that the intelligence they gathered "may lead to raids", and that the government "may send correspondence to the alien or take an enforcement action".
'If you fire them, ICE would be paralysed'
French investigative outlet Les Jours reported on Wednesday that Capgemini Government Solutions’ ties with ICE stretched back nearly two decades. Government spending records from USAspending.gov show that 65% of the contracts awarded to the company by US federal agencies were with ICE. As early as 2007, the contracts already covered operational planning, including modelling the agency’s detention capacity.
“If you fire them, ICE would be paralysed. They’ve become essential to certain parts of the system, it’s very hard to get rid of them,” a former senior ICE official told Les Jours.
This dependency is reinforced by a "revolving door" process, with many employees moving between ICE and CGS, ensuring continuity and deep institutional knowledge.
The relationship has endured for nearly two decades, as documented by Les Jours, and came under scrutiny in a 2021 audit by the DHS Office of Inspector General, which flagged performance and oversight failures. “Although ICE had controls in place that required the contractor to provide qualified labour, ICE did not properly construct or monitor the contract,” the report said.
It also found that the contractor had failed to specify staffing levels for key labour categories, meaning ICE “cannot ensure it received all services and may have overpaid $769,869 in labour cost”. The watchdog further concluded that ICE did not ensure the contractor – Capgemini Government Solutions – met requirements for staff skills, education and experience, or that all contractor personnel worked at the designated place of performance.
This dependence on Capgemini’s services spans operations ranging from detention capacity management to deportation logistics and individual tracking, underscoring how deeply embedded CGS has become to core ICE functions.
Political and union pressure mounts
These revelations have triggered mounting pressure on Capgemini from unions, politicians and parts of the French government. French union CFDT strongly condemned the ICE contract and has called for more transparency from management at a time when Capgemini is planning to cut up to 2,400 jobs in France. The more hardline CGT called for the ‘immediate and public cessation of any collaboration with ICE’, arguing that the agreement runs counter to the company’s stated values.
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure on Wednesday urged full transparency, saying Capgemini – which is partly state-owned – must "shed light, in an extremely transparent manner, on its activities" and "question the nature of these activities". Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin has meanwhile called for close ethical scrutiny of such contracts.
Capgemini has scheduled an extraordinary board meeting for this weekend in Paris as scrutiny intensifies, with unions warning that its outcome could set a precedent for how European firms engage with US security agencies.
French IT firm Capgemini is drawing intensified scrutiny as questions emerge over the nature and scope of a contract between its US subsidiary, Capgemini Government Solutions (CGS), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The contract emerged last week after it was first revealed by independent media outlet l’Observatoire des multinationales. It concerns “skip tracing” services – a form of data-driven locating and tracking of individuals whose whereabouts are unknown – used by ICE to verify home and work addresses and support removal operations. The framework agreement is capped at over $365 million, with nearly $4.8 million already committed.
‘Bounty hunters’ and financial stakes
In practical terms, contractors use government-supplied case data alongside commercial databases, public records, phone and social media information and even physical observation to confirm a person’s location for enforcement purposes.
The solicitation, revealed by US magazine Wired in October, outlines an incentive structure offering monetary bonuses for high performance, with companies assigned thousands of cases at a time. To meet these targets, contractors are expected to carry out “commercial data verification” and, if required, “physical observation services” to verify the address information.
Wired described parts of the initiative as relying on private "bounty hunters" paid to locate and track immigrants. A language echoed by The Intercept, which reported on December 23 that at least 10 companies had already earned more than $1 million and could collectively make well over $1 billion from the programme through 2027. The largest potential single share, the investigative outlet outlined, was expected to go to Capgemini Government Solutions.
Capgemini group CEO Aiman Ezzat said Sunday on LinkedIn that senior management had only recently become aware of the contract “through public sources”, adding that it was “not currently being executed” and was subject to legal challenge. An internal message sent to staff and seen by AFP said the US subsidiary had launched a process to examine the contents of the deal, as scrutiny intensified from unions, politicians and investors.
According to The Washington Post, ICE told prospective contractors in a written Q&A in November that the intelligence they gathered "may lead to raids", and that the government "may send correspondence to the alien or take an enforcement action".
'If you fire them, ICE would be paralysed'
French investigative outlet Les Jours reported on Wednesday that Capgemini Government Solutions’ ties with ICE stretched back nearly two decades. Government spending records from USAspending.gov show that 65% of the contracts awarded to the company by US federal agencies were with ICE. As early as 2007, the contracts already covered operational planning, including modelling the agency’s detention capacity.
“If you fire them, ICE would be paralysed. They’ve become essential to certain parts of the system, it’s very hard to get rid of them,” a former senior ICE official told Les Jours.
This dependency is reinforced by a "revolving door" process, with many employees moving between ICE and CGS, ensuring continuity and deep institutional knowledge.
The relationship has endured for nearly two decades, as documented by Les Jours, and came under scrutiny in a 2021 audit by the DHS Office of Inspector General, which flagged performance and oversight failures. “Although ICE had controls in place that required the contractor to provide qualified labour, ICE did not properly construct or monitor the contract,” the report said.
It also found that the contractor had failed to specify staffing levels for key labour categories, meaning ICE “cannot ensure it received all services and may have overpaid $769,869 in labour cost”. The watchdog further concluded that ICE did not ensure the contractor – Capgemini Government Solutions – met requirements for staff skills, education and experience, or that all contractor personnel worked at the designated place of performance.
This dependence on Capgemini’s services spans operations ranging from detention capacity management to deportation logistics and individual tracking, underscoring how deeply embedded CGS has become to core ICE functions.
Political and union pressure mounts
These revelations have triggered mounting pressure on Capgemini from unions, politicians and parts of the French government. French union CFDT strongly condemned the ICE contract and has called for more transparency from management at a time when Capgemini is planning to cut up to 2,400 jobs in France. The more hardline CGT called for the ‘immediate and public cessation of any collaboration with ICE’, arguing that the agreement runs counter to the company’s stated values.
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure on Wednesday urged full transparency, saying Capgemini – which is partly state-owned – must "shed light, in an extremely transparent manner, on its activities" and "question the nature of these activities". Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin has meanwhile called for close ethical scrutiny of such contracts.
Capgemini has scheduled an extraordinary board meeting for this weekend in Paris as scrutiny intensifies, with unions warning that its outcome could set a precedent for how European firms engage with US security agencies.
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