Here’s The Tech Powering Ice’s Deportation Crackdown 

President Donald Trump made countering migration 1 of his flagship issues during past year’s statesmanlike campaign, promising an unprecedented number of deportations. 

In his first 8 months successful office, that committedness turned into astir 350,000 deportations, a fig that includes deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (around 200,000), Customs and Border Protection (more than 132,000), and almost 18,000 self-deportations, according to CNN.  

ICE has taken halfway shape successful Trump’s wide deportation campaign, raiding homes, workplaces, and nationalist parks successful hunt of undocumented immigrants. To assistance its efforts, nan ICE has astatine its disposal respective technologies tin of identifying and surveilling individuals and communities.

Here is simply a recap of immoderate of nan exertion that ICE has successful its integer arsenal. 

Clearview AI facial recognition

Clearview AI is possibly nan astir well-known facial nickname institution today. For years, nan institution promised to beryllium capable to place immoderate look by searching done a ample database of photos it had scraped from nan internet. 

On Monday, 404 Media reported that ICE has signed a statement pinch nan institution to support its rule enforcement limb Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), “with capabilities of identifying victims and offenders successful kid intersexual exploitation cases and assaults against rule enforcement officers.” 

According to a authorities procurement database, nan statement signed past week is worthy $3.75 million. 

ICE has had different contracts pinch Clearview AI successful nan past mates of years. In September 2024, nan agency purchased “forensic software” from nan company, a woody worthy $1.1 million. The twelvemonth before, ICE paid Clearview AI astir $800,000 for “facial nickname endeavor licenses.”

Clearview AI did not respond to a petition for comment. 

Paragon telephone spyware

In September 2024, ICE signed a contract worthy $2 cardinal pinch Israeli spyware shaper Paragon Solutions. Almost immediately, nan Biden management issued a “stop activity order,” putting nan statement nether review to make judge it complied pinch an executive bid connected nan government’s usage of commercialized spyware. 

Because of that order, for astir a year, nan statement remained successful limbo. Then, past week, nan Trump management lifted nan extremity activity order, effectively reactivating nan contract. 

At this point, it’s unclear what’s nan position of Paragon’s narration pinch ICE successful practice. 

The records introduction from past week said that nan statement pinch Parago is for “a afloat configured proprietary solution including license, hardware, warranty, maintenance, and training.” Practically speaking, unless nan hardware installation and training were done past year, it whitethorn return immoderate clip for ICE to person Paragon’s strategy up and running.

It’s besides unclear if nan spyware will beryllium utilized by ICE aliases HSI, an agency whose investigations are not constricted to immigration, but besides screen online kid intersexual exploitation, quality trafficking, financial fraud, and more.

Paragon has agelong tried to represent itself arsenic an “ethical” and responsible spyware maker, and now has to determine if it’s ethical to activity pinch Trump’s ICE. A batch has happened to Paragon successful nan past year. In December, American backstage equity elephantine AE Industrial purchased Paragon, pinch a scheme to merge it pinch cybersecurity institution Red Lattice, according to Israeli tech news tract Calcalist.

In a motion that nan merger whitethorn person taken place, erstwhile TechCrunch reached retired to Paragon for remark connected nan reactivation of nan ICE statement past week, we were referred to RedLattice’s caller vice president of trading and communications Jennifer Iras. 

RedLattice’s Iras did not respond to a petition for remark for this article, nor for past week’s article.

In nan past fewer months, Paragon has been ensnared successful a spyware ungraded successful Italy, wherever nan authorities has been accused of spying connected journalists and immigration activists. In response, Paragon trim ties pinch Italy’s intelligence agencies. 

LexisNexis’ ineligible and nationalist records databases

For years, ICE has utilized nan ineligible investigation and nationalist records information agent LexisNexis to support its investigations. 

In 2022, 2 non-profits obtained documents via Freedom of Information Act requests, which revealed that ICE performed much than 1.2 cardinal searches complete 7 months utilizing a instrumentality called Accurint Virtual Crime Center. ICE utilized nan instrumentality to cheque nan inheritance accusation of migrants.   

A twelvemonth later, The Intercept revealed that ICE was utilizing LexisNexis to observe suspicious activity and analyse migrants earlier they moreover committed a crime, a programme that a professional said enabled “mass surveillance.”

According to nationalist records, LexisNexis presently provides ICE “with a rule enforcement investigative database subscription (LEIDS) which allows entree to nationalist records and commercialized information to support criminal investigations.” 

This year, ICE has paid $4.7 cardinal to subscribe to nan service. 

LexisNexis spokesperson Jennifer Richman told TechCrunch that ICE has utilized nan company’s merchandise “data and analytics solutions for decades, crossed respective administrations.”

“Our committedness is to support nan responsible and ethical usage of data, successful afloat compliance pinch laws and regulations, and for nan protection of each residents of nan United States,” said Richman, who added that LexisNexis “partners pinch much than 7,500 federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies crossed nan United States to beforehand nationalist information and security.” 

Surveillance elephantine Palantir

Data analytics and surveillance exertion elephantine Palantir has signed several contracts pinch ICE successful nan past year. The biggest contract, worthy $18.5 cardinal from September 2024, is for a database strategy called “Investigative Case Management,” aliases ICM.

The statement for ICM goes backmost to 2022, erstwhile Palantir signed a $95.9 cardinal woody pinch Palantir. The Peter Thiel-founded company’s narration pinch ICE dates backmost to nan early 2010s. 

Earlier this year, 404 Media, which has reported extensively connected nan exertion powering Trump’s deportation efforts, and particularly Palantir’s relationship pinch ICE, revealed specifications of really nan ICM database works. The tech news tract reported that it saw a caller type of nan database, which allows ICE to select group based connected their migration status, beingness characteristics, criminal affiliation, location data, and more. 

404 Media cited “a root acquainted pinch nan database,” who said it is made up of ‘tables upon tables’ of information and that it tin build reports that show, for example, group who are connected a circumstantial type of visa who came into nan state astatine a circumstantial larboard of entry, who came from a circumstantial country, and who person a circumstantial hairsbreadth colour (or immoderate number of hundreds of information points).” 

The tool, and Palantir’s narration pinch ICE, was arguable capable that sources wrong nan institution leaked to 404 Media an soul wiki wherever Palantir justifies moving pinch Trump’s ICE. 

Palantir is besides processing a instrumentality called “ImmigrationOS,” according to a statement worthy $30 cardinal revealed by Business Insider. 
ImmigrationOS is said to beryllium designed to streamline nan “selection and apprehension operations of forbidden aliens,” springiness “near real-time visibility” into self-deportations, and way group overstaying their visa, according to a document first reported connected by Wired.