\n<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump said he would make countering immigration one of his flagship policies during his second term in the White House, promising an unprecedented number of deportations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A year in, data shows that deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection have surpassed at least 350,000 people<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n ICE has taken center stage in Trump\u2019s mass removal campaign, raiding homes, workplaces, and public parks in search of undocumented people, prompting widespread protests and resistance from communities across the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n ICE uses several technologies to identify and surveil individuals. Homeland Security has also leveraged the shadow of Trump\u2019s deportations to challenge long-standing legal norms, including forcibly entering homes to arrest people without a judicial warrant, a move that legal experts say violates the Fourth Amendment protections<\/a> against unreasonable searches and seizures.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here are some of the technologies that ICE is relying on.<\/p>\n ICE has a technology\u00a0known as cell-site simulators to snoop on cellphones. These surveillance devices, as the name suggests, are designed to appear as a cellphone tower, tricking nearby phones into connecting to them. Once that happens, the law enforcement authorities who are using the cell-site simulators can locate and identify the phones in their vicinity, and potentially intercept calls, text messages, and internet traffic. \u00a0<\/p>\n Cell-site simulators are also known as \u201cstingrays,\u201d based on the brand name of one of the earliest versions of the technology, which was made by U.S. defense contractor Harris (now L3Harris); or IMSI catchers<\/a>, a technology that can capture a nearby cell phone\u2019s unique identifier, which law enforcement can use for identifying the phone\u2019s owner. \u00a0<\/p>\n In the last two years, ICE has signed contracts for more than $1.5 million with a company called TechOps Specialty Vehicles (TOSV)<\/a>, which produces customized vans for law enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n A contract worth more than $800,000, dated May 8, 2025, said TOSV will provide \u201cCell Site Simulator (CSS) Vehicles to support the Homeland Security Technical Operations program.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n TOSV president Jon Brianas told TechCrunch that the company does not manufacture the cell-site simulators, but rather integrates them \u201cinto our overall design of the vehicle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Cell-site simulators have long been controversial for several reasons. \u00a0<\/p>\n These devices are designed to trick all nearby phones to connect to them, which means that, by design, they gather the data of many innocent people. Also, authorities have sometimes deployed them<\/a> without first obtaining a warrant. \u00a0<\/p>\n Authorities have also tried to keep their use of the technology secret in court, withholding information<\/a> and even accepting plea deals<\/a> and dropping cases<\/a> rather than disclose information about their use of cell-site simulators. In a court case in 2019 in Baltimore, it was revealed<\/a> that prosecutors were instructed to drop cases rather than violate a non-disclosure agreement with the company that makes the devices. \u00a0<\/p>\n Clearview AI is perhaps the most well-known facial-recognition company today. For years, the company promised to be able to identify any face by searching through a large database of photos it had scraped from the internet.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Monday, 404 Media reported<\/a> that ICE has signed a contract with the company to support its law enforcement arm, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), \u201cwith capabilities of identifying victims and offenders in child sexual exploitation cases and assaults against law enforcement officers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n According to a government procurement database, the contract signed last week is worth $3.75 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n ICE has had other contracts<\/a> with Clearview AI in the last couple of years. In September 2024, the agency purchased \u201cforensic software\u201d from the company, a deal worth $1.1 million. The year before, ICE paid Clearview AI nearly $800,000 for \u201cfacial recognition enterprise licenses.\u201d<\/p>\n Clearview AI did not respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n ICE is also using a facial-recognition app called Mobile Fortify, which federal agents use to identify people on the street. The app relies on scanning a person\u2019s driver\u2019s license photo against 200 million photos, much of the data sourced from state driver\u2019s license databases<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\tDo you have more information about ICE and the technology it uses? We would love to learn how this affects you. From a non-work device, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram and Keybase @lorenzofb, or email<\/a>.<\/a> You also can contact TechCrunch via SecureDrop<\/a>.\t\t<\/div>\n In September 2024, ICE signed a contract<\/a> worth $2 million with Israeli spyware maker Paragon Solutions. Almost immediately, the Biden administration issued a \u201cstop work order,\u201d putting the contract under review<\/a> to make sure it complied with an executive order on the government\u2019s use of commercial spyware.\u00a0<\/p>\n Because of that order, for nearly a year, the contract remained in limbo. Then, last week, the Trump administration lifted the stop-work order, effectively reactivating the contract<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n At this point, the status of Paragon\u2019s relationship with ICE in practice is unclear. \u00a0<\/p>\n The records entry from last week said that the contract with Paragon is for \u201ca fully configured proprietary solution including license, hardware, warranty, maintenance, and training.\u201d Practically speaking, unless the hardware installation and training were done last year, it may take some time for ICE to have Paragon\u2019s system up and running.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also unclear if the spyware will be used by ICE or HSI, an agency whose investigations are not limited to immigration, but also cover online child sexual exploitation, human trafficking, financial fraud, and more<\/a>.<\/p>\n Paragon has long tried to portray itself as an \u201cethical\u201d and responsible spyware maker, and now has to decide if it\u2019s ethical to work with Trump\u2019s ICE. A lot has happened to Paragon in the last year. In December, American private equity giant AE Industrial purchased Paragon<\/a>, with a plan to merge it with cybersecurity company RedLattice, according to Israeli tech news site Calcalist<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a sign that the merger may have taken place, when TechCrunch reached out to Paragon for comment on the reactivation of the ICE contract last week, we were referred to RedLattice\u2019s new vice president of marketing and communications, Jennifer Iras.\u00a0<\/p>\n RedLattice\u2019s Iras did not respond to a request for comment for this article, nor for last week\u2019s article.<\/p>\n In the last few months, Paragon has been ensnared in a spyware scandal in Italy, where the government has been accused of spying on journalists<\/a> and immigration activists<\/a>. In response, Paragon cut ties<\/a> with Italy\u2019s intelligence agencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n In mid-September, ICE\u2019s law enforcement arm, Homeland Security Investigations, signed a contract with Magnet Forensics<\/a> for $3 million.<\/p>\n This contract is specifically for software licenses so that HSI agents can \u201crecover digital evidence, process multiple devices,\u201d and \u201cgenerate forensic reports,\u201d according to the contract description.<\/p>\n Magnet is the current maker of the phone hacking and unlocking devices known as Graykey. These devices essentially give law enforcement agents the ability to connect a locked phone to them, unlock it, and access the data inside of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Magnet Forensics, which merged with Graykey maker Grayshift<\/a> in 2023, did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n At the end of September, 404 Media reported<\/a> that ICE bought access to an \u201call-in-one\u201d surveillance tool that allows the agency to search through databases of historical cellphone location data, as well as social media information. \u00a0<\/p>\n The tool appears to be made of two products called Tangles and Webloc, which are made by a company called Penlink. One of the tools promises to leverage \u201ca proprietary data platform to compile, process, and validate billions of daily location signals from hundreds of millions of mobile devices, providing both forensic and predictive analytics,\u201d according to a redacted contract found by 404 Media<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n The redacted contract does not identify which one of the tools makes that promise, but given its description, it\u2019s likely Webloc. Forbes previously cited a case study<\/a> that said Webloc can search a given location to \u201cmonitor trends of mobile devices that have given data at those locations and how often they have been there.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n This type of cellphone location data is harvested by companies around the world using software development kits (SDKs) embedded in regular smartphone apps, or with an online advertising process called real-time bidding (RTB), where companies bid in real-time to place an ad on the screen of a cellphone user based on their demographic or location data. The latter process has the by-product of giving ad tech companies that kind of personal data. \u00a0<\/p>\n Once collected, this mass of location data is transferred to a data broker who then sells it to government agencies. Thanks to this layered process, authorities have used this type of data without getting a warrant by simply purchasing access to the data.\u00a0<\/p>\n The other tool, Tangles, is an \u201cAI-powered open-source intelligence\u201d tool that automates \u201cthe search and analysis of data from the open, deep, and the dark web,\u201d according to Penlink\u2019s official site<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n Forbes reported<\/a> in September that ICE spent $5 million on Penlink\u2019s two tools. \u00a0<\/p>\n Penlink did not respond to a request for comment. \u00a0<\/p>\n ICE relies on automated license plate reader (ALPR) companies to follow drivers across a large swath of the U.S., noting where people go and when.<\/p>\n ICE also leans on its connections with local law enforcement agencies<\/a>, which have contracts with ALPR providers, like surveillance company Flock Safety, to obtain immigration data by the back door. Flock is one of the largest ALPR providers, with over 40,000 license plate scanners around the United States, and only getting larger with its partnerships with other companies, such as video surveillance company Ring<\/a>.<\/p>\n Efforts by ICE to informally request data from local law enforcement have prompted some police departments to cut off federal agencies<\/a> from their access.<\/p>\n Border Patrol runs its own surveillance network of ALPR cameras, the Associated Press reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n For years, ICE has used the legal research and public records data broker LexisNexis to support its investigations.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2022, two non-profits obtained documents via Freedom of Information Act requests, which revealed<\/a> that ICE performed more than 1.2 million searches over seven months using a tool called Accurint Virtual Crime Center. ICE used the tool to check the background information of migrants.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A year later, The Intercept revealed<\/a> that ICE was using LexisNexis to detect suspicious activity and investigate migrants before they even committed a crime, a program that a critic said enabled \u201cmass surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n According to public records<\/a>, LexisNexis currently provides ICE \u201cwith a law enforcement investigative database subscription (LEIDS) which allows access to public records and commercial data to support criminal investigations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n This year, ICE has paid $4.7 million to subscribe to the service.\u00a0<\/p>\n LexisNexis spokesperson Jennifer Richman told TechCrunch that ICE has used the company\u2019s product \u201cdata and analytics solutions for decades, across several administrations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur commitment is to support the responsible and ethical use of data, in full compliance with laws and regulations, and for the protection of all residents of the United States,\u201d said Richman, who added that LexisNexis \u201cpartners with more than 7,500 federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies across the United States to advance public safety and security.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Data analytics and surveillance technology giant Palantir has signed several contracts<\/a> with ICE in the last year. The biggest contract, worth $18.5 million from September 2024, is for a database system called \u201cInvestigative Case Management,\u201d or ICM.<\/p>\n The contract for ICM goes back to 2022, when Palantir signed<\/a> a $95.9 million deal with ICE. The Peter Thiel-founded company\u2019s relationship with ICE dates back to the early 2010s.\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier this year, 404 Media, which has reported extensively on the technology powering Trump\u2019s deportation efforts, and particularly<\/a> Palantir\u2019s<\/a> relationship<\/a> with ICE<\/a>, revealed details of how the ICM database works. The tech news site reported that it saw a recent version of the database, which allows ICE to filter people based on their immigration status, physical characteristics, criminal affiliation, location data, and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to 404 Media, \u201ca source familiar with the database\u201d said it is made up of \u2018tables upon tables\u2019 of data and that it can build reports that show, for example, people who are on a specific type of visa who came into the country at a specific port of entry, who came from a specific country, and who have a specific hair color (or any number of hundreds of data points).\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The tool, and Palantir\u2019s relationship with ICE, was controversial enough that sources within the company leaked to 404 Media an internal wiki<\/a> where Palantir justifies working with Trump\u2019s ICE.\u00a0<\/p>\n Palantir is also developing a tool called \u201cImmigrationOS,\u201d according to a contract worth $30 million revealed by Business Insider<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n ImmigrationOS is said to be designed to streamline the \u201cselection and apprehension operations of illegal aliens,\u201d give \u201cnear real-time visibility\u201d into self-deportations, and track people overstaying their visa, according to a document<\/a> first reported on by Wired<\/a>.<\/p>\n First published on September 13, 2025, and updated on September 18, 2025, to include Magnet Forensics\u2019 new contract, again on October 8, 2025, to include cell-site simulators and location data, and again on January 26, 2026, to include license plate readers.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nCell-site simulators<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Facial recognition<\/h2>\n
Paragon phone spyware<\/h2>\n
Contact Us<\/h4>\n
Phone hacking and unlocking technology<\/h2>\n
Cellphone location data<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
License plate readers<\/h2>\n
LexisNexis\u2019 legal and public records databases<\/h2>\n
Surveillance giant Palantir<\/h2>\n