ICE paid $12 million to track immigrants. The company they hired used a stock photo for its lead scientist and invented its own client reviews

A defense vendor called Edge Ops LLC has been given a $12 million contract by U.S. immigration enforcement to track immigrants’ locations and daily routines. But a deeper look into the company has revealed some serious red flags that raise questions about how this contract was awarded.

According to Lever News, Edge Ops was hired for a program called Project SAFE HAVEN, which uses AI to map out the habits, routines, and “patterns of life” of immigrants being targeted by federal authorities. After news outlet The Lever investigated the company, Edge Ops removed all mentions of Project SAFE HAVEN and its leadership team from its website.

One of the biggest concerns is that Edge Ops used a stock photo for its lead computer scientist, Diya Das. The image was taken from a stock photo website called Dreamstime and still had the site’s watermark on it. The same photo also appeared on other websites, including an online therapy platform and a life coaching service. Das’ bio also had no real identifying details, like where she studied or worked before.

Edge Ops’ fake partnerships and made-up reviews point to a deeply unreliable contractor

Edge Ops also claimed to be working with a company called Dryad Networks on wildfire detection technology. When The Lever contacted Dryad, the company denied any connection. “I have no clue who this guy is, and I don’t know why they use photos of our tech,” said Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO and co-founder of Dryad.

The company also displayed a client review on its website, but The Lever found that the quote came from a made-up person. Edge Ops later removed that quote and replaced it with a new one that experts say looks equally suspicious. ICE’s aggressive enforcement tactics have been drawing scrutiny in multiple ways, and states pushing back against ICE agent conduct show how widespread the concerns have become.

Despite all of this, Edge Ops still managed to win a $12 million government contract without facing any competition from other companies. This kind of contract is called a sole-source contract, meaning other companies were not given the chance to bid for it. 

“It seems like competitive procurement is the exception rather than the rule,” said Charles Tiefer, a professor emeritus at the University of Baltimore School of Law. “They have a lot of money, they’re in a rush, and they don’t want to follow the rules.”

Tiefer and other experts who spoke with The Lever said the reasoning behind giving Edge Ops the contract without open competition was hard to justify. “The fact that other defense and security contractors don’t have the capability to provide this is a bit unusual,” said an industry attorney who asked not to be named.

Public concern about ICE operations has also been growing online, with millions reacting to ICE door-to-door visits in a viral social media trend. Tiefer added that the situation is especially troubling given what the technology is actually being used for. “This is a worrisome development, especially given the nature of the technology detailed in the company’s new no-bid contract: AI-driven surveillance,” he said.