Minority Report

ICE is arresting more people, in more places, and with more problematic tech than ever before.

- Nick Schwellenbach and Russ Choma

THE COMPANY’S biometric tech always sounded like it was ripped from the plot of a dystopian thriller, but recently, the iris-scanning system developed by the Massachusetts-based BI² Technologies has become part of the nation’s deportation dragnet.

How BI² landed an ICE contract worth as much as $10 million is in part a tale of the Trump administration’s increasing reliance on controversial surveillance and biometric technology in its immigration crackdown. But it’s also the story of how a lobbying shop with deep ties to Trumpworld helped land a lucrative deal for a company that for years had struggled to break into federal contracting.

Shortly after President Donald Trump's election, BI² hired Ballard Partners to tout its tech to the right people in Washington. The lobbying firm was about as close as you could get to the Trump administration. Susie Wiles, Trump's chief of staff, helped open Ballard's DC office. Attorney General Pam Bondi is a Ballard alum. And the firm's founder, Brian Ballard, a Trump whisperer with unparalleled entree to the president's inner circle, was part of the team working on the BI² account.