# Here's the Tech Powering ICE's Deportation Crackdown
President Donald Trump made countering immigration one of his flagship issues during last year’s presidential campaign, promising an unprecedented number of deportations. In his first eight months in office, that promise turned into around 350,000 deportations, a figure 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 center stage in Trump’s mass deportation campaign, raiding homes, workplaces, and public parks in search of undocumented immigrants.
To aid its efforts, the ICE has at its disposal several technologies capable of identifying and surveilling individuals and communities. One such technology is Clearview AI, a facial recognition company that promises to be able to identify any face by searching through a large database of photos it had scraped from the internet. In September 2024, 404 Media reported that ICE has signed a contract with the company to support its law enforcement arm Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), “with capabilities of identifying victims and offenders in child sexual exploitation cases and assaults against law enforcement officers.”
According to a government procurement database, the contract signed last week is worth $3.75 million. This is not the first time ICE has used Clearview AI; in September 2022, the agency purchased "forensic software" from the company for $1.1 million, and in August 2023, they paid Clearview AI nearly $800,000 for "facial recognition enterprise licenses."
Another technology used by ICE is Paragon Solutions, an Israeli spyware maker that has signed a contract with the agency worth $2 million. Almost immediately, the Biden administration issued a "stop work order," putting the contract under review to make sure it complied with an executive order on the government's use of commercial spyware.
Due to this order, for nearly a year, the contract remained in limbo. Then, last week, the Trump administration lifted the stop work order, effectively reactivating the contract. It is currently unclear what's the status of Paragon's relationship with ICE in practice.
In addition to these technologies, ICE has also used LexisNexis' legal and public records databases to support its investigations. According to public records, LexisNexis provides ICE with a law enforcement investigative database subscription (LEIDS) which allows access to public records and commercial data to support criminal investigations.
This year, ICE has paid $4.7 million to subscribe to the service. This year, ICE also signed a contract worth $18.5 million from September 2024, for a database system called "Investigative Case Management," or ICM. The Peter Thiel-founded company’s relationship with ICE dates back to the early 2010s.
Palantir has also signed several contracts with ICE in the last year, including a deal worth $30 million for a tool called "ImmigrationOS." ImmigrationOS is said to be designed to streamline the "selection and apprehension operations of illegal aliens," give “near real-time visibility” into self-deportations, and track people overstaying their visa.
These technologies have sparked controversy over ICE's deportation efforts, with critics arguing that they enable mass surveillance. The use of these technologies raises concerns about privacy, security, and the impact on marginalized communities.
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