U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been pouring millions of dollars into Alabama-based companies. The funding has been ramping up since before President Donald Trump took office.
Reporters Hannah Denham and Sarah Whites-Koditschek collaborated on a data story analyzing the flow of money from ICE to Alabama.
"Part of our goal with this story was to map the existing landscape of contracts and spending to make those agreements public information going forward," Whites-Koditschek said.
Denham spoke with a research analyst at Good Jobs First, a government and corporate accountability nonprofit, about spending data.
“We looked at the companies with the largest contracts, what services they provided the federal agency, and which of these companies had been fined for corporate misconduct,” Denham said. “Then we reached out to those companies to find out more about the scope of these contracts.”
ICE spent more than $45 million in 2023 alone for operations including telephone services for detainees, IT support for human trafficking software and body camera services.
Altogether, ICE has invested $124 million in Alabama business contracts since 2008, including companies run by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, which is designated as a disadvantaged group by the Small Business Administration.
Currently, there are $6 million in active contracts with just eight businesses. Alabama-based transportation company Altec struck a $5 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security in 2015 for ICE enforcement and removal operations services.
17 Alabama contractors paid more than $280 million in fines and other penalties for violating federal and state regulations in the last 18 years.
“This has flown under the radar, in terms of public oversight, especially as ICE has shown a pattern of hiring contractors who have been penalized for corporate misconduct,” Denham said.
Spending is expected to increase after the federal government allocated nearly $171 billion to ICE in July 2025.
"We may see significant spending and new contracts with ICE going forward in Alabama," Whites-Koditschek said.