ICE wants better biometrics for cross-border operations

Last week, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued an unclassified, law enforcement sensitive draft statement of work for an anticipated blanket purchase agreement contract for proprietary software, online access, and equipment for the collection of biographic and biometric data for operational use by Homeland Security Investigations’ (HIS) Biometric Identification Transnational Migration Alert Program (BITMAP).

The selected vendor will provide proscribed technology and services which will allow HSI to perform BITMAP operations more efficiently and effectively.

Operated by HSI’s Office of International Operations, BITMAP trains and equips foreign counterparts to conduct targeted collection of biometric and biographic data on suspect individuals via mobile biometric collection devices.

The BITMAP initiative is an endeavor to bolster HSI criminal investigations, border security, and counterterrorism efforts by using identity intelligence to weaken the ability of criminal enterprises to carry out cross border operations.

BITMAP’s focus is on providing specialized technical equipment and advisory support to foreign law enforcement counterparts by collecting biometric and biographic data from third-country nationals in support of criminal investigations.

Foreign law enforcement partners share their BITMAP information with HSI as part of joint operations to identify transnational criminals, “Known or Suspected Terrorists,” gang members, and other persons of interest.

The strategic vision of the BITMPAP initiative is to develop a global network of foreign law enforcement partners whose biometric collection and investigative missions are mutually beneficial and “inextricably intertwined with HSI’s goal to protect the homeland.”

The selected vendor is expected to provide exclusive access to their proprietary software which allows for the collection of biographic and biometric data and online services, like a cloud service, so that HSI can manage devices, user accounts, and see/print out enrollments into the system.

“This will allow HSI to be an administrator and assign individual managerial rights to various HSI attaché offices throughout the world,” ICE said. The selected contractor will also provide HSI with user support and any scheduled or unscheduled updates and required patches or fixes to the software and their online gateway.

The software and online system that the selected contractor is expected to provide will allow HSI to collect and transmit biometric data to support the following mission-essential requirements:

• Software and online services must be customizable to allow the biometric collection and transmission process to align with current and future DHS biometric technical specifications and business process rules.
• Software and services must be able to interface with current and future Customs and Border Protection the technical architecture of the Advanced Targeting System-Global and Unified Passenger System, which is currently used by HSI for processing collections.
• Software and services must have the ability to conform to HSI’s needs so that any future customization that may be required can be addressed as expeditiously as possible. As an example, HSI said “BITMAP program managers who may desire to generate reports for collection activity specific to certain devices or users could create such a document utilizing the software/services.”

The contractor is expected to perform all tasks on authorized government networks using government-furnished IT and other equipment and/or Workplace as a Service (WaaS) if WaaS is authorized, and all government information is to remain within the confines of authorized government networks.

The selected vendor will also be required to seek prior approval before hiring any subcontractors and must ensure that a separation checklist is performed for any contractor employees upon termination of work under the contract.

The current response date is July 18, 2024, at 11:00 AM CDT.

The contracting office is ICE HIS. More details are available here.

Article Topics

Biometric Identification Transnational Migration Alert Program (BITMAP)  |  biometrics  |  border security  |  DHS  |  ICE - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement  |  tender  |  U.S. Government