CBP Formally Hires Contractors to Collect Fines From People It Has Deported

Customs and Border Protection awarded contracts today to four companies to collect immigration fines from people the United States has deported, ending a competition that closed earlier this month after an unusually brief bidding period.

Each contract is capped at $9 million and was issued by the same contracting office. The winners are Global Recovery Group, Caduceus, Response AI Solutions and the Baptiste Group.

The agency wants contractors to travel to homes in Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala, confirm that a deported person lives there and get that person to photograph their own face as proof that a fine notice was delivered, according to solicitation documents reported this month by Project Salt Box. The agency told bidders it had not identified a way for people without a U.S. bank account to pay what they owe, and said the winning contractor would have to propose a solution.