ICE Has Been Dumping Protester Photos into a Palantir Database

Court filings unsealed in a proposed class action in Maine allege that Homeland Security agents compiled dossiers on people who observed ICE enforcement - saving photos, license-plate data, addresses and other personal details in Investigative Case Management (ICM), a case-management system built on Palantir’s Gotham. The filings say one agent, identified as “J.C.,” created ICM records on multiple observers, tagged some as “Threat to Law Enforcement, Professional Protestor,” circulated their photos for a CBP facial‑recognition check via Mobile Query, and ran vehicle-owner searches in LexisNexis’s Accurint to obtain home and contact information. An observer reports being warned on the phone that participating in observation might lead to being added to a domestic‑terrorism watchlist; a DHS privacy assessment and government documents indicate ICM records automatically propagate to CBP’s TECS system, where they become lookout entries for border screening.

ICE awarded Palantir the original ICM contract in 2014 and has extended and expanded work since, including a 2022 five‑year support deal and a 2025 add‑on to develop “ImmigrationOS.” The government contends these were isolated incidents and denies maintaining a separate database of protesters or nominating anyone to a terror watchlist; plaintiffs argue the practices chilled First Amendment activity, prompting some observers to stop their work. The suit seeks archival or deletion of records, barring DHS from using the collected data against observers, and prohibiting threats, follow‑ups, and watchlist‑related intimidation.