Experts says the controversial software, which collects biographical, biometric, and geolocation information, violates fundamental human rights
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has signed a $29.8 million contract with the tech company Palantir to develop software that tracks information on immigrants who are either in the country without permission or whose visas have expired, with the aim of facilitating deportations, according to 404 Media.
Organizations such as Amnesty International and legal experts consider the measure a violation of human rights. “An aberration,” says Ricard Martínez, director of the Chair of Privacy and Digital Transformation at the University of Valencia in Spain.
Palantir is founded by tycoon Peter Thiel, a partner of Elon Musk, who has not responded to EL PAÍS’s requests for information. It has promised to develop the software, even though it contradicts the company’s own human rights policy.
The tracking platform, named Immigration Lifecycle Operating System, or ImmigrationOS, is designed, according to ICE, to save “time and resource expenditure” when selecting and detaining “violent criminals,” “affiliates of known transnational criminal organizations,” or migrants who have overstayed their visa.
It will also provide “near real-time” tracking of individuals who have decided to leave the country. According to the contract, which has been shared by several media outlets, ImmigrationOS will streamline “end to end immigration lifecycle from identification to removal.”
The prototype of the program commissioned from Palantir is expected to be delivered on September 25 and will last for two years. It responds to executive orders signed by U.S. President Donald Trump, who considers irregular immigration a significant threat to national security.
Palantir has collaborated with the U.S. Armed Forces, tax collection agencies, the FBI, and, most recently, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was initially led by Elon Musk.