Tech Company Palantir Paid $30 Million to Help ICE Build New Deportation Tracking System

Palantir Technologies, the Denver-based data company, is facing growing backlash for expanding its work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid the Trump administration's intensified deportation agenda. Federal records show that in April, ICE awarded Palantir a $30 million contract to create a new surveillance and deportation system called the Immigration Lifecycle Operating System (ImmigrationOS). Scheduled for delivery by September, this tool would give ICE “near real-time visibility” on people self-deporting, allow tracking of visa overstays, and bolster efforts to detain and deport individuals allegedly linked to transnational crime — a vague and often politicized classification.

The deepening relationship between Palantir and ICE has alarmed immigrant rights advocates, many of whom view this contract as a dangerous step toward mass surveillance and unchecked state power. Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat, a policy adviser at NYU’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, warned: “In supporting the Trump administration's deportation apparatus, Palantir is complicit in those human rights and constitutional violations.”

ICE claims that the new system is urgently needed and insists that Palantir is the only company capable of building it in time. Citing the company’s long history with ICE and its existing access to data from multiple federal agencies, ICE said any delay would “undercut enforcement mandates” from recent executive orders. Yet, critics argue that these mandates reflect a broader pattern of anti-immigrant extremism rather than legitimate policy needs.

Tech industry voices have also spoken out. Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, said on X (formerly Twitter): “If you're a first-rate programmer, there are a huge number of other places you can go work rather than at the company building the infrastructure of the police state.”

Palantir has not publicly addressed its role in supporting ICE under the current administration. But the consequences are already being felt: over 100 people — including military members — were arrested during a recent ICE operation in Colorado Springs. As deportations continue, so does concern that private tech companies like Palantir are enabling the erosion of civil liberties in immigrant communities.

Link: Axios