Paris-headquartered Capgemini was acting as the lead contractor in a new programme to covertly surveil and photograph undocumented migrants across the US.
However, the fatal shootings of two American citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis amid the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration crackdown have put intense scrutiny on the role of ICE’s international contractors.
In December, the federal agency quietly began a US-wide programme to identify and track 1.5 million foreigners on US soil that it outsourced to contractors to help accelerate raids and deportations.
The US arm of Capgemini, one of Europe’s largest consulting and digital services multinationals, signed a two-year deal with ICE last month with a $365m ceiling to take part in the programme.
However, in the face of considerable backlash in France and following an intervention from France’s finance minister, a spokesman for Capgemini announced on Thursday that the contract is “not currently being fulfilled”.
[...]
Capgemini’s contract was for part of what ICE calls “skip tracing services”, an initiative to create a force of non-government monitors to track down foreign nationals, “for enforcement and removal operations”.
[...]
Two Native American-owned companies in Wisconsin and Kansas cancelled contracts with $38m (£28m) and $29.9m (£22m), following objections from tribal leaders and citizens.