How Palantir, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google Power Trump’s Immigration Crackdown

As the federal migration crackdown has expanded crossed the United States, the government’s activities person relied connected infrastructure from respective cardinal tech companies.

The defence tech and IT infrastructure elephantine Palantir has received peculiar attraction for its enactment with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. However, erstwhile it comes to selling tech to national migration authorities, Palantir is acold from alone: ICE and Customs and Border Protection are paying hundreds of millions of dollars for products and services from companies similar Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.

WIRED examined information and records dated from January 1, 2023, to the contiguous that were posted successful the 2 national contracting databases—the System for Award Management (SAM) and the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS)—focusing connected contracts with the companies oregon declaration descriptions that explicitly sanction the companies oregon usage applicable shorthand. WIRED besides reviewed nationalist documents from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security pertaining to the exertion astatine ICE and CBP’s disposal. Collectively, they uncover that the agencies are consenting to walk important sums of wealth to guarantee that the companies proceed to powerfulness their operations.

In total, Palantir has earned astir $121.9 cardinal successful payments and obligations from ICE since 2023. In that aforesaid clip frame, ICE has paid for products worthy astatine slightest $94 cardinal from Microsoft, astatine slightest $51 cardinal from Amazon, and astatine slightest $921,000 from Google. CBP, meanwhile, has paid for products worthy astatine slightest $81 cardinal from Microsoft, astatine slightest $158 cardinal from Amazon, and astatine slightest $7 cardinal from Google. These are minimum estimates that exclude payments that bash not straight notation these companies oregon their halfway offerings successful publically disposable documents.

Many of the payments are for unreality retention powering operations crossed the agencies. Some outgo descriptions notation peculiar offices—like ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, which carries retired arrests and deportations—or highly circumstantial databases that store accusation astir everything from students to ongoing transgression cases. Usually, ICE and CBP acquisition offerings from these companies done third-parties—in Microsoft’s case, it’s typically Dell Federal Systems, portion for Amazon and Google, it tends to beryllium much obscure companies similar Four Points Technology oregon Westwind Computer Products.

When a 3rd enactment is involved, it’s not wide whether a tech elephantine knows that their products are being sold to ICE oregon CBP. It is clear, however, that without their products, the computing infrastructure of America's migration instrumentality would carnivore small resemblance to its existent form.

Palantir

Some of the astir almighty tools astatine ICE and CBP’s disposal—data investigation tools that bring unneurotic accusation typically stored crossed galore antithetic national databases—can often beryllium traced backmost to Palantir.

Palantir has developed a assortment of information absorption and analytics bundle platforms for ICE, national records reviewed by WIRED show. While Palantir does not look to person done immoderate enactment for CBP since 2013, ICE has relied connected the company’s products since 2011.

In 2014, Palantir created ICE’s Investigative Case Management (ICM) system, a mentation of the company’s off-the-shelf merchandise Gotham. In a 2016 DHS privateness interaction assessment, the bureau says that Palantir’s ICM—which the appraisal describes arsenic ICE’s “core instrumentality enforcement lawsuit absorption tool”—stores "criminal and civilian investigative lawsuit files," helps facilitate information-sharing with CBP, and performs "investigative research" connected systems "both interior and outer to ICE and DHS."

The appraisal adds that the ICM is chiefly utilized by agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), ICE’s transgression investigative arm. According to a descent presumption uploaded to SAM successful July 2023, the ICM was utilized by astir 10,000 radical globally.

The full grade of what the ICM tin bash is unclear, but known usage cases for Gotham whitethorn supply clues. Police departments person utilized Gotham to centralize evidence, hunt for suspects utilizing carnal traits similar tattoos oregon scars, and hypothesize astir individuals’ relationships and imaginable pack membership. Military customers, meanwhile, usage it to program unit movements, show their surveillance tools, and place targets connected the “kill chain.”

As WIRED reported past April, ICE paid Palantir $30 cardinal to physique different tool, the Immigration Lifecycle Operating System, oregon ImmigrationOS, to assistance the bureau take who to deport and support way of radical who were removed from the US oregon chose to permission voluntarily.

A Palantir spokesperson tells WIRED that ImmigrationOS has “the aforesaid halfway infrastructure” arsenic “Enhanced Lead Identification and Targeting Enforcement” (ELITE), a caller app developed by the company. According to documentation DHS published successful January, ELITE has been successful usage since June. 404 Media reported that the app tin make on-the-spot dossiers astir imaginable deportation targets, including a “confidence score” of whether a idiosyncratic whitethorn reside astatine a peculiar address. The DHS documentation says that ELITE uses AI to much easy entree “unstructured, hard‑to‑read code accusation successful records similar rap sheets and warrants,” and claims that officers “review and validate the AI-driven outputs” earlier acting connected them.

ICE has besides been utilizing a caller Palantir-developed instrumentality designed to “review and categorize incoming tips” submitted to the agency, arsenic reported by WIRED. The tool, which has been successful usage since June 2025, is besides designed to nutrient little summaries of these tips, and construe those that are not successful English.

Palantir besides developed the instrumentality that preceded it, the FALCON Tipline, which existed nether a larger “IT environment” the bureau referred to arsenic “FALCON.” (ICE has ne'er revealed whether FALCON was an acronym.) While active, FALCON besides included astatine slightest 2 different tools built by Palantir: 1 that stored and analyzed commercialized data, and 1 that ingested information from assorted interior databases and made it searchable.

ICE announced successful 2022 that it would beryllium replacing FALCON, which a 2023 DHS study clarified would beryllium a instrumentality built internally. A Palantir spokesperson confirms with WIRED that the FALCON situation had been “retired.”

Jake Laperruque, lawman manager of the Center for Democracy and Technology's Security and Surveillance Project, tells WIRED that portion Palantir isn’t the institution harvesting people’s data, it enables ICE to analyse information it obtains from different sources. In doing so, it enables the agency’s larger surveillance apparatus.

“The overriding taxable that we've seen for a agelong time, and particularly implicit the past year, is this ‘collect it all’ mentality. ‘Let's drawback arsenic overmuch arsenic we can, we volition find ways to usage it,’” Laperruque says. “And if we person it all, we'll beryllium capable to specify what we need.”

With the objection of ImmigrationOS and ELITE, each of these tools predate the 2nd Trump administration. However, the grade of the information ICE has entree to, and these tools could perchance enactment with, has expanded implicit the past year. “This medication is trying to aggregate those antithetic information sources for the intent of migration enforcement, contempt the information that that accusation was not collected for the intent of migration enforcement,” says Jeramie Scott, elder counsel and manager of the Electronic Privacy Information Center's Surveillance Oversight Program. “Doing that undermines the spot successful government.”

In the weeks since national migration enforcement agents killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti successful Minneapolis, immoderate Palantir employees person asked questions astir the morals and concern logic of selling to ICE, and requested much accusation astir the company’s narration with the agency. In aboriginal February, WIRED reported, CEO Alex Karp recorded a video for Palantir employees astir the company's enactment for ICE that shared precise small information. Employees were told that if they were funny successful learning more, they could motion an NDA.

DHS, ICE, and CBP did not respond to WIRED's requests for comment.

Microsoft

ICE and CBP usage some Microsoft’s Azure unreality retention and Microsoft 365. Broadly speaking, determination appears to beryllium much public-facing accusation astir however ICE uses Microsoft’s products and services compared to CBP.

Some outgo descriptions connected FPDS uncover that ICE uses Azure to assistance tally the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), which is successful complaint of IT systems passim ICE, and the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, wherever ICE lawyers litigate "all removal cases including those against transgression aliens, terrorists, and quality rights abusers.”

Azure besides powers “daily operations” for ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Technical Operations team, according to FPDS records. ICE’s website says that method enforcement officers usage "electronic surveillance devices similar telephone, video, audio, tracking, vigor frequence technologies and associated surveillance systems" during "high-risk" transgression investigations.

FPDS and SAM documents seldom supply overmuch penetration into however precisely ICE is utilizing peculiar Microsoft 365 products. However, determination are immoderate hints astir however ICE uses Dynamics 365, a suite of AI-powered tools that Microsoft claims tin assistance companies negociate proviso chains and different operations.

On FPDS, ICE claimed it purchased Dynamics 365 to enactment an bid titled “Scalable Ways to Implement Flexible Tasks (SWIFT).” In a show of enactment papers uploaded to SAM successful 2022, ICE says SWIFT involves automating miscellaneous tasks crossed the agency.

ICE has besides purchased astatine slightest 2 “licenses,” which could notation to licenses for Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365 Enterprise, oregon thing else. These licenses are for Enforcement and Removal Operations and HSI’s Cyber and Operational Technology Unit (COTU), which oversees some the probe of “cyber-enabled” crimes similar kid exploitation and information sharing to instrumentality enforcement agencies wrong and extracurricular of DHS.

The outgo statement that mentions COTU besides names the “CALEA Network,” seemingly a notation to the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, the national instrumentality requiring telecommunications providers to plan their networks truthful that instrumentality enforcement tin wiretap calls. The statement does not specify however Microsoft whitethorn enactment CALEA compliance.

ICE has besides purchased astatine slightest 1 “customized” grooming league for unit connected utilizing Microsoft Teams. Details connected FPDS revealed that the grooming would beryllium focused connected processing "documents" for the absorption bureau of the 287(g) program, which deputizes enrolled authorities and section agencies to enactment with ICE. “Automated documents" are besides mentioned, but thing connected FPDS reveals precisely what those whitethorn be, oregon what relation they play successful the 287(g) program.

Christopher Muhawe, an adjunct prof of instrumentality astatine the University of Illinois Chicago—who has studied the intelligence effects the American migration surveillance infrastructure—argues that radical seeking asylum oregon exile presumption successful the US, including the “security and survival” it could provide, are “inherently vulnerable” to the national migration surveillance state, and tin origin anxiousness and "advanced harm to someone's health."

“There are nary capable protections to these individuals,” Muhawe says.

Microsoft did not instrumentality WIRED’s petition for comment.

Amazon

Both CBP and ICE usage Amazon unreality retention successful enactment of their operations.

Federal outgo records uncover that ICE is simply a lawsuit of Amazon’s “GovCloud,” a mentation of AWS that the institution says has heightened information specifications for “sensitive workloads.” According to a descent presumption uploaded to SAM, the national grant absorption system, successful July 2023, Palantir’s ICM runs connected AWS.

The aforesaid papers says that Amazon besides powers “ICE Cloud,” a important portion of infrastructure for the agency. ICE Cloud hosts the agency’s “Digital Records Manager,” “Data Warehouse,” and the “Law Enforcement Information Sharing Service” (LEIS Service), according to the 2023 descent presentation. DHS described the LEIS Service successful 2019 arsenic “a backend ace road information sharing system” betwixt ICE and different instrumentality enforcement agencies.

The 2023 descent presumption shows that ICE Cloud besides hosts the “PRIME Interface Hub,” which DHS says “transmits queries to and from” 2 different locations. The archetypal is ICE’s Enforcement Integrated Database, which DHS says contains “investigation, arrest, booking, detention, and removal” records for radical encountered oregon apprehended by ICE, CBP, oregon US Citizenship and Immigration Services. The 2nd is “TECS” (which DHS says is not presently an acronym, but erstwhile stood for the “Treasury Enforcement Communications System”), CBP’s “information-sharing platform” that allows authorized users to entree CBP databases with accusation astir anyone who entered the US by plane, ship, car, oregon connected foot, and immoderate assets seized astatine the border.

Amazon besides powers ICE’s “Student and Exchange Visitor Program Automated Information Management System,” according to a September 2025 transaction. This appears to beryllium either a functionality within, oregon different word for, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, which stores accusation astir radical studying successful the US.

Two FPDS payments—despite being made successful 2020 and 2022, anterior to the play WIRED examined—are important capable to warrant mention. They revealed that Amazon was providing infrastructure for the ICE’s Repository for Analytics successful a Virtualized Environment (RAVEn), a instrumentality for agents to analyse “raw oregon unevaluated datasets”—including documents, photos, audio, and different data—over a twelve national databases. A DHS Office of the Inspector General study from 2023 describes RAVEn arsenic an “internally developed” tool. It includes a superior “search and analytic tool," a instrumentality for sharing “lead referrals and outcomes” crossed HSI tract offices, and a mobile app.

RAVEn was intended astatine its inception to beryllium a replacement for Palantir’s FALCON. A Palantir spokesperson confirmed this, adding, “as we recognize it, aft respective years, RAVEn is nary longer serviceable, having tally into some outgo and functionality challenges.”

A mentation of the 2026 DHS Appropriations Act considered by the House of Representatives successful January includes a proviso claiming that HSI has "outstanding briefing requirements and requests related to RAVEn improvement and deployment that are overdue by much than 1 year." It’s unclear whether Amazon has continued to enactment RAVEn.

According to a outgo connected FPDS, Amazon has besides fixed CBP entree to “AWS Elemental Live,” which provides method infrastructure for livestreams. However, determination isn’t overmuch further accusation astir what Amazon helps the bureau do.

In February, dozens of "community members, activists and Amazon employees" gathered extracurricular the company’s firm office successful Seattle to protestation the company’s enactment with ICE, the Seattle Times reported.

Amazon did not instrumentality WIRED’s petition for comment.

Google

Both ICE and CBP usage Google’s unreality situation to assistance tally their operations, though the outgo descriptions for the ICE contracts uncover comparatively small astir however and wherever Google’s tech is being utilized erstwhile compared with those from CBP. According to outgo descriptions connected FPDS, CBP uses Google Cloud to tally its “Enterprise Cloud Services Division,” which the bureau describes arsenic its “a Cloud governance assemblage with authorization implicit Cloud infrastructure and Cloud service.”

Google has besides helped CBP usage generative AI for “Document Summarization and Content Generation” since March of past year, alongside Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic, according to DHS documentation. It’s unclear, however, what circumstantial documents are being summarized oregon the CBP bureau that’s involved.

According to a SAM introduction past updated successful February 2025, CBP’s cloud-based “Modular Google Environment” (MAGE) supports the "current infrastructure" of 1 of its surveillance systems. The introduction relates to CBP’s “Integrated Fixed Towers,” the 10-foot surveillance towers that assistance the bureau surveil distant areas of Arizona. In 1 biology review, the bureau said it was utilizing the towers to find and apprehend terrorists, radical crossing the borderline illegally, and anyone smuggling “humans, drugs, and different contraband.”

Dave Maass, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's investigations manager who has studied CBP’s surveillance hardware, tells WIRED that it's unclear precisely however overmuch CBP whitethorn trust connected Google for its existing operations. He adds that it’s besides been historically hard to measure the effectiveness of CBP’s surveillance operation program.

“I've ne'er gotten the consciousness that the Border Patrol has had a occupation of uncovering radical astatine the border,” Maass says. “If anything, they person a occupation uncovering wherever they're going to location these people.”

Earlier this month, much than 800 Google employees signed a petition demanding the institution to disclose and cancel each of its contracts with ICE and CBP.

Google did not instrumentality WIRED’s petition for comment.