Elevator Pitch

• ICE is planning a major expansion of social media surveillance by hiring private contractors to monitor and analyze online activity for use in immigration enforcement, raising significant concerns about privacy, oversight, and mission creep.

Key Takeaways

• ICE seeks to staff its targeting centers around the clock with nearly 30 contractors, using advanced surveillance tools and AI to sift through public social media and open-source data for enforcement leads.
• The program would integrate new data streams into ICE’s existing Palantir-based investigative system, automating and scaling up the creation of dossiers for raids and arrests.
• Privacy advocates and watchdog groups warn the expansion risks overreach, lack of transparency, and abuse, as ICE’s surveillance capabilities increasingly extend beyond immigration enforcement.

Most Memorable Aspects

• The proposed surveillance teams would have strict turnaround times, with urgent cases requiring analysis within 30 minutes.
• ICE’s past contracts include spyware capable of hacking encrypted messaging apps and sweeping deals for bulk location and facial recognition data.
• The agency’s own documents admit previous enforcement approaches “have had limited success” without social media and open web data.

Direct Quotes

• "ICE wants a contractor capable of staffing the centers around the clock, constantly processing cases on tight deadlines, and supplying the agency with the latest and greatest subscription-based surveillance software."
• "By drawing in the online activity of not only its targets but also friends, family, and community members, ICE is certain to collect far more information outside its mandate than it is likely to publicly concede."
• "ICE’s proposal to track ‘negative sentiment’ is a clear example of how the agency’s threat monitoring bleeds into the policing of dissent."