Congress Turns Up Pressure on DHS Over Palantir’s Role in Immigration Crackdown
Thirty-four members of Congress is demanding that the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement provide detailed information on how tools developed by Palantir and “a range of surveillance companies” are fueling Trump’s ongoing immigration crackdown, according to a letter shared exclusively with WIRED.
On Thursday, lawmakers sent the letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Acting ICE Secretary Todd Lyons. It outlines the main concerns they have about how DHS uses software developed by Palantir, as well as facial recognition from Clearview AI, social media monitoring tools from PenLink, cell tower simulators from L3Harris and cell phone surveillance technology built by Paragon Solutions.
Lawmakers said the suite of tools could be used to “compile, aggregate, and analyze large volumes of data and personal information,” and they questioned “what safeguards, if any, exist to prevent the misuse and collection of sensitive personal information.”
“These tools contribute to a mass surveillance ecosystem that appears to operate in conjunction with platforms developed by Palantir and ultimately support enforcement operations conducted by DHS, some of which target U.S. citizens,” the letter states. It demands a response from ICE and DHS by April 24.
The letter included several specific questions about Palantir, including what “governmental and/or commercial data sets and information, if any” are integrated into the systems developed by the company. They also asked about an app developed by Palantir called “ELITE,” short for “Enhanced Leads Identification and Targeting for Enforcement.” Lawmakers requested a “comprehensive report” on the tool, including information on its development, its purpose, the specific categories it applies to data and the current number of DHS officials authorized to use it.
New York Democrat Dan Goldman, one of the lead authors of the letter, told WIRED that he believes the second Trump administration “weaponized” Palantir’s technology in order to fuel its “inhumane mass deportation program” as well as “surveil American citizens.”
“The use of these tools raises serious civil liberties and privacy concerns, but DHS and ICE have thus far refused to be transparent about how they use these tools and what information they collect about U.S. citizens,” Goldman said.
The letter’s focus on Palantir underscores how the Trump administration’s growing reliance on the company’s technology has become increasingly politically divisive. Palantir is a critical contractor for ICE and Customs and Border Protection, both part of the Department of Homeland Security. WIRED previously reported that ICE currently uses several tools developed by Palantir. In addition to ELITE, Palantir created ICE’s “primary enforcement case management tool,” as well as the Immigration Lifecycle Operating System (ImmigrationOS), which immigration officers use to screen deportation cases and track who has been deported.
Palantir’s revenue from government contracts has grown steadily since the company was founded in 2004, and it has increased under both Democratic and Republican administrations. However, since the start of Trump’s second term, this business has exploded. The company earned a record $1 billion in payments and obligations from government agencies in fiscal 2025, nearly twice as much as the previous year.
In the letter, the lawmakers also requested information about the “legal authorities” and internal policies that DHS uses to determine how the data it collects and aggregates is used, or how long it is retained.
Lawmakers also questioned whether DHS and ICE “collect or retain” personal data belonging to U.S. citizens, citing instances where U.S. citizens encountered ICE and Border Patrol agents who then used facial recognition to learn the citizens’ identities. The lawmakers also asked whether DHS had “collected, stored, or otherwise processed information about individuals observing, documenting, or peacefully protesting immigration enforcement operations,” and requested detailed information on facial recognition tools used during immigration enforcement.
Democratic Rep. John Garamendi, who signed the letter, told WIRED that it is the “duty of Congress” to rigorously oversee any potentially illegal surveillance of Americans. “As an out-of-control ICE terrorizes local communities and attacks American citizens, it is becoming increasingly clear that this alarming new reality demands action,” Garamendi says.
