When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) quietly signed a new $30 million contract with Palantir Technologies in April 2025, few outside tech or legal circles noticed. But the software at the center of this deal—ImmigrationOS—could dramatically reshape the way the U.S. government hunts, tracks, and deports undocumented people.
Behind the scenes, a well-established partnership between ICE and Palantir, the controversial data analytics firm co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, has evolved into something far more ambitious: a centralized system to automate immigration enforcement across agencies and jurisdictions. For critics, it marks a new era of tech-enabled mass surveillance in the name of border control.
A contract without competition
Palantir helping hunt migrants isn’t a new story—but this latest contract raised eyebrows for its lack of public bidding. ICE invoked an emergency clause to bypass standard procurement processes, arguing that only Palantir could build and deploy the ImmigrationOS platform within months.
The stated goal? To deliver a prototype by September 2025, capable of:
- Tracking individual migrants’ movement in real time
- Mapping familial, community, and digital networks
- Flagging potential “national security risks”
- Logging so-called “self-deportation events” automatically
An internal memo from ICE justifying the award cited “urgent national interest” under President Trump’s April 2025 executive order aimed at “defending American sovereignty from foreign invasion.”
A chilling legacy: From ICM to ImmigrationOS
Palantir’s relationship with ICE began over a decade ago. In 2014, it developed Investigative Case Management (ICM), a platform that centralized field operations, biometrics, visa histories, and even social media tracking. Civil rights groups like Amnesty International and the ACLU have long criticized ICM for facilitating family separations and raids, especially during Trump’s first term.
Now, with ImmigrationOS, the integration deepens. Sources familiar with the platform describe it as an “algorithmic command center” for deportation logistics—what ICE calls a “life-cycle solution.”
Internal ICE documentation indicates that Palantir will also link ImmigrationOS to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), DMV databases, and AI-powered facial recognition tools provided by third-party vendors.
Surveillance, secrecy, and Silicon Valley politics
What alarms watchdogs isn’t just the technology, it’s the politics behind it.
Peter Thiel, Palantir’s co-founder, is a vocal supporter of Trump and close advisor to Vice President J.D. Vance. Thiel was instrumental in mentoring Vance politically and financially, and several of Palantir’s former executives now hold top federal tech roles. Among them:
- Gregory Barbaccia, ex-Palantir intelligence lead, now Federal Chief Information Officer
- Clark Minor, recently appointed CIO of the Department of Health and Human Services
Palantir’s CEO, Alex Karp, has publicly distanced himself from partisan politics, but critics argue the firm’s actions tell a different story—funneling tools of war into civil enforcement.
“Just following data”: The limits of transparency
Despite Palantir’s claims that its tools are only “decision aids,” internal ICE documents show the software produces automated deportation recommendations, which field agents often follow with little oversight. That’s what worries legal experts.
“When predictive policing logic is applied to immigration, you don’t get justice—you get automated suspicion,” says Aarti Kohli, executive director of Advancing Justice.
Public records requests have revealed that ImmigrationOS will also feature a “deportation priority matrix”, using machine learning to rank individuals based on data ranging from criminal records to school enrollments to social media affiliations.
Global clients, global concerns
Palantir is no stranger to controversy abroad. In Israel, its tools are reportedly deployed by military intelligence to manage operations in the occupied West Bank, prompting Norway’s Storebrand to divest due to “systemic rights violations.” In France, the DGSI (internal intelligence agency) relies on Palantir’s platforms, though a national effort is underway to replace the system by 2027.
Meanwhile, the company is expanding its commercial footprint in Europe. Clients include Airbus, Scor, Forvia, and Société Générale. France is Palantir’s third-largest market globally.
Despite repeated warnings from civil society, most contracts remain shielded by national security exemptions, leaving the public with few avenues for scrutiny.
The future: A nation managed by algorithms?
With Palantir helping hunt migrants, critics see more than just tech outsourcing. They see the normalization of algorithmic governance where deportation decisions, tax investigations, and even pandemic responses are routed through a handful of proprietary systems.
“This isn’t just about migrants,” says investigative journalist Brennan Smith. “It’s about whether democracy can survive the outsourcing of law enforcement logic to opaque algorithms.”
As ImmigrationOS goes live later this year, its scope may only grow. ICE has signaled interest in adding predictive border modeling, drone surveillance, and automated adjudication systems functionality some insiders say Palantir is already developing.
