Open-Source Intelligence for Lead Identification and Targeting

Overview

Development stage

In development or acquisitionSource: a) Pre-deployment – The use case is in a development or acquisition status.

High-impact designation

Presumed high-impact, determined notSource: b) Presumed high-impact, but determined not high impact

Impact justification

This use case falls into a presumptive high-impact category due to its role in supporting law enforcement activities, specifically in identifying individuals who pose risks to community safety or violate U.S. immigration laws. However, it does not meet the definition of high-impact AI as outlined in OMB Memorandum M-25-21 because its outputs do not serve as a "principal basis" for decisions or actions with legal, material, binding, or significant effects on an individual or entity's civil rights, civil liberties, or privacy; or human health and safety. The AI modules, including risk extraction, image analysis, language detection, and AI chat, are designed to augment traditional investigative processes by providing structured annotations and insights for analysts to review. These outputs are explicitly described as supporting tools that require human validation and integration with other government data holdings before any enforcement action is taken. Furthermore, the AI system operates as a supplementary tool, consolidating and organizing information to enhance efficiency, but does not independently produce outcomes that directly affect civil rights, civil liberties, or privacy. The safeguards in place, including human validation and adherence to established legal standards, ensure that the AI outputs remain supportive rather than determinative, confirming that this use case does not meet the high-impact definition.

Start date

Not reported

Withheld from public reporting

Not reported

Mission

Topic area

Law Enforcement

Operational functions

Chatbot or virtual assistant, Translation and transcription, Image and video analysis Derived by keyword rules; see methodology

Problem the AI is intended to solve

The AI is intended to solve the problem of traditional manual open‑source searches missing relevant identifiers or connections in large volumes of online information.

Expected benefits

The platform’s AI capabilities reduce the time and effort required to sift through large datasets, improve the ability to uncover relevant information, and enhance the overall efficiency and effectiveness of ICE enforcement operations.

System outputs

The platform utilizes AI modules to assist ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in open-source research and investigations. The risk extraction capability uses AI to identify and classify potential risks within documents, such as references to criminal activity or connections to organizations of concern, and generates structured annotations for analysts to review. The platform also includes AI-powered translation, which allows analysts to work with multilingual content, and image analysis, which detects and extracts objects from images linked to documents to provide additional investigative context. Additionally, the system can analyze language within documents to highlight text that may indicate threats or planned violence, drawing attention to sections that require closer examination. An AI chat interface further supports analysts by enabling real-time, conversational queries and responses, making it easier to surface insights and context from large datasets.

Technology

AI classification

Natural language processingSource: Natural Language Processing: AI that processes, interprets, and shares information in human language.

System name(s)

Not reported

Custom-developed code

Not reported

Public source code

Not reported

Sourcing

How it was built

Not reported

Vendor (as reported)

Not reported

Vendors (standardized)

None on the standard list

A vendor is the supplier named by the agency. It does not identify the underlying model or AI technology.

Data and privacy

Involves PII

Not reported

Privacy Impact Assessment

Not reported

Authorization to Operate

Not reported

Demographic features

Not reported

Training and evaluation data

Not reported

Federal Data Catalog

Not reported

Governance

0 of 8 minimum-practice questions answered. A blank answer means the agency reported nothing; it does not mean the practice is absent.

Potential impacts and how they were identified

Not reported