Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has assembled an extensive digital arsenal to support President Trump's mass deportation campaign, which has resulted in approximately 350,000 deportations in the first eight months of his administration . The agency utilizes sophisticated surveillance and identification technologies to locate and track undocumented immigrants across the United States .
Facial recognition technology
ICE has significantly expanded its relationship with Clearview AI, signing a $3.75 million contract in September 2025 to support Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with facial recognition capabilities .
This follows previous contracts totaling nearly $2 million since 2023 for forensic software and enterprise licenses . Clearview AI maintains a massive database of photos scraped from the internet, enabling identification of individuals through facial recognition searches .
Spyware and phone surveillance
The agency reactivated a $2 million contract with Israeli spyware maker Paragon Solutions after the Trump administration lifted a Biden-era stop work order in September 2025 . This contract provides ICE with proprietary surveillance solutions including hardware, software, and training capabilities .
Additionally, ICE's HSI division signed a $3 million contract with Magnet Forensics for phone hacking technology, specifically Graykey devices that can unlock encrypted smartphones and extract digital evidence .
Data analytics and surveillance
Palantir Technologies serves as ICE's primary data analytics partner through multiple contracts totaling over $140 million . The company's Investigative Case Management (ICM) database allows ICE to filter individuals based on immigration status, physical characteristics, criminal affiliations, and location data .
Palantir is also developing "ImmigrationOS," designed to streamline deportation operations and provide real-time visibility into immigration activities .
Public records access
ICE maintains a $4.7 million annual subscription to LexisNexis databases, providing access to public records and commercial data through the Accurint Virtual Crime Center . Documents revealed that ICE conducted over 1.2 million searches in seven months during 2022, using the system for background checks and predictive surveillance of migrants before crimes are committed .
This technological infrastructure enables ICE to conduct comprehensive surveillance operations, from facial recognition identification to detailed data analytics, supporting the administration's expanded immigration enforcement efforts .
