As Palantir deepens its role in immigration enforcement, civil rights groups warn the U.S. is building a digital dragnet with little public oversight.
On paper, it’s about efficiency. In practice, it’s about power.
For more than a decade, the data analytics firm Palantir Technologies has quietly served as one of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s most critical technology partners. As of early 2026, that relationship has entered a new phase—one defined by artificial intelligence, predictive targeting, and the integration of vast amounts of personal data into a single enforcement system.
According to ICE contract disclosures and reporting confirmed by multiple outlets, Palantir is now helping the agency process public tips using large language models that automatically translate, summarize, and prioritize information for agents. ICE officials have described the system as a way to “accelerate operational decision-making,” though civil liberties advocates argue it lowers the threshold for surveillance and error.
More controversially, Palantir has developed an internal ICE tool known as ELITE (Enhanced Leads Identification & Targeting for Enforcement). The application populates maps with potential enforcement targets, compiles dossiers from government and commercial databases, and assigns “confidence scores” estimating how likely a person is to be found at a given address. The system was reported in January 2026 as being used to guide targeted operations.
At the center of ICE’s next phase is ImmigrationOS, a nearly $30 million Palantir-built platform designed to unify data from immigration files, travel records, license-plate readers, and other sources into a single interface. ICE has described it as a modernization effort; critics describe it as a black box.
“This isn’t just about immigrants,” the American Civil Liberties Union noted in a recent policy brief. “These systems routinely ingest data on U.S. citizens, mixed-status families, and bystanders, with few safeguards and limited transparency.”
ICE’s technology stack now extends far beyond Palantir. The agency uses facial recognition tools such as Mobile Fortify and Clearview AI, automated license-plate reader databases operated by private companies, cell-site simulators known as “stingrays,” and phone extraction software from firms like Cellebrite. It also purchases real-time location data from commercial brokers tied to smartphone apps, according to public records reviewed by advocacy groups.
For Latino communities—many of which live in mixed-status households—the concern is not abstract. Digital enforcement doesn’t stay contained. Data flows outward, mistakes compound, and accountability remains elusive.
As billions in federal funding continue to fuel this technological expansion, one question remains unanswered: who is watching the watchers?
