ICE Agents Access 20 Million People Data via Palantir on iPhones, Officials Reveal

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials revealed last week that Palantir’s systems now provide agency agents with access to a list of 20 million people directly on their iPhones. This capability significantly accelerates ICE’s ability to identify targets for raids and arrests, according to comments made during the Border Security Expo in Phoenix, Arizona.

While ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) typically refrain from discussing their use of Palantir’s technology with journalists, senior officials were notably more forthcoming at the conference. 404 Media spoke with four attendees who confirmed the details shared during the event.

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ICE’s Expanded Surveillance Capabilities

Although the Trump administration has scaled back rhetoric on mass deportations and city-wide raids following multiple fatalities, ICE continues to detain individuals without criminal convictions. Data from April 2024 showed that 70.8% of detainees—42,722 people—had no criminal record.

During the expo, Matthew Elliston, assistant director of Law Enforcement Systems Analysis at ICE, disclosed that agents can now access a database of 20 million potential targets via their iPhones. This system allows agents to pinpoint an individual’s location and identify nearby targets, even if they are lower priority. Elliston also noted that Palantir’s technology has increased ICE’s success rate in locating targets from 27% to nearly 80%.

Two of the attendees, Kenny Morris (campaigns strategist at the American Friends Service Committee’s Action Center for Corporate Accountability) and Dov Baum (director of the same center), confirmed these details. 404 Media is withholding the identities of the other two attendees to protect them from professional repercussions.

How Palantir’s Technology Works

Elliston explained that investigative tasks that previously took hours now require just 10 to 15 minutes thanks to Palantir’s tools. The agency now integrates between 30 and 40 datasets through Palantir’s systems, which consolidate disparate data sources into a single queryable interface.

In January 2024, 404 Media reported that Palantir was developing a tool for ICE called ELITE (Enhanced Leads Identification Targeting for Enforcement). This tool maps potential deportation targets, further enhancing ICE’s operational efficiency.