Federal contract to spy
Earlier this year, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) paid $825,000 to a manufacturing company that makes vehicles installed with tech for law enforcement, which also included fake cellphone towers called "cell-site" simulators used to surveil phones.
The contract was made with a Maryland-based company called TechOps Specialty Vehicles (TOSV). TOSV signed another contract with ICE for $818,000 last year during the Biden administration.
The latest federal contract shows how few technologies are being used to support the Trump administration's crackdown on deportation.
In September 2025, Forbes discovered an unsealed search warrant that revealed ICE used a cell-site simulator to spy on a person who was allegedly a member of a criminal gang in the US, and was asked to leave the US in 2023. Forbes also reported on finding a contract for "cell site simulator."
About ICE
Cell-site simulators were also called "stingrays." Over time, they are now known as International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catchers, a unique number used to track every cellphone user in the world.
These tools can mimic a cellphone tower and can fool every device in the nearby range to connect to the device, allowing law enforcement to identify the real-world location of phone owners. Few cell-site simulators can also hack texts, internet traffic, and regular calls.
Authorities have been using Stingray devices for more than a decade. It is controversial as authorities sometimes don't get a warrant for their use.
According to experts, these devices trap innocent people; their use is secret as the authorities are under strict non-disclosure agreements not to disclose how these devices work. ICE has been infamous for using cell-site simulators. In 2020, a document revealed that ICE used them 466 times between 2017 and 2019.
