{
  "version": "3.33",
  "compiled": "2026-10-09",
  "site": "https://stateofwatch.com",
  "claim": {
    "id": "robot-dogs",
    "section": 1,
    "title": "ICE buys four Boston Dynamics robot dogs",
    "date": "Aug 27 – Sept 28, 2026",
    "sort": "2026-08-27",
    "status": "verified",
    "checked": "3.31",
    "note": "The DHS forecast (archived copy), ICE's market-research notice and its draft specifications read directly (Oct 3, 2026). The $1.3 million contract is Boston.com's report of the listed contract; we have not yet found it in federal spending records. Updated Oct 3, 2026; earlier versions ended with the forecast.",
    "category": "contract",
    "summary": "ICE planned a no-competition purchase of Boston Dynamics' Spot robot dogs, which carry 360-degree and thermal cameras, and by late September 2026 had a $1.3 million contract for four of them. The DHS planning notice for the purchase is no longer on DHS's website.",
    "body": "ICE's Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs posted a DHS acquisition forecast on Aug 27, 2026 titled \"Boston Dynamics SPOT Robots Procurement,\" listed with no competition at $1 million to $2 million. The next day ICE posted a market-research (sources sought) notice for a \"Quadruped Unmanned Ground Vehicle\"; its draft specifications ask for stereo cameras giving 360-degree visibility, a 30x zoom camera with thermal imaging, an arm and gripper, and extended-range radios.\n\nBoston.com reported on Sept 30 that ICE had finalized a $1.3 million contract for four Spot robots, publicly listed that week, to search tunnels at border crossings; Boston Dynamics said ICE's Homeland Security Investigations, not Enforcement and Removal Operations, would use them. The forecast page has since come down from DHS's site; the archived copy is linked here.",
    "quotes": [],
    "sources": [
      {
        "label": "DHS acquisition forecast F2026075113, \"Boston Dynamics SPOT Robots Procurement\" (Aug 27, 2026; archived Aug 29)",
        "primary": true,
        "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20260829170646/https://apfs-cloud.dhs.gov/record/75113/public-print/"
      },
      {
        "label": "ICE sources sought notice 192126NFU00000158, \"Quadruped Unmanned Ground Vehicle\" (Aug 28, 2026)",
        "primary": true,
        "doc": "spot-sources-sought"
      },
      {
        "label": "ICE draft specifications, Quadruped Unmanned Ground Vehicle",
        "primary": true,
        "doc": "spot-draft-spec"
      },
      {
        "label": "NBC News, Aug 28, 2026",
        "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/ice-buy-robot-dogs-immigration-enforcement-rcna594897"
      },
      {
        "label": "WBUR, Aug 31, 2026",
        "url": "https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/08/31/ice-robot-dogs-immigration-enforcement-boston-dynamics"
      },
      {
        "label": "FedScoop, Sept 4, 2026",
        "url": "https://fedscoop.com/ice-robot-dog-procurement-concern-privacy-surveillance/"
      },
      {
        "label": "Boston.com, Sept 30, 2026 (the contract)",
        "url": "https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2026/09/30/ice-settles-contract-to-buy-boston-dynamics-robots-for-1-3-million/"
      },
      {
        "label": "Bloomberg"
      },
      {
        "label": "USA Today"
      }
    ],
    "places": [],
    "url": "https://stateofwatch.com/claims/robot-dogs"
  }
}