The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has awarded a $29.8 million agreement to the technology firm Palantir to create a system that monitors data on immigrants who are in the nation illegally or whose visas have run out, with the goal of making deportations easier, 404 Media reports.
Groups like Amnesty International and lawyers view the move as an infringement of human rights. Palantir was established by tycoon Peter Thiel, an associate of Elon Musk, who has not answered EL PAÍS’s questions. It has vowed to build the software despite it conflicting with the company’s own human rights approach.
The platform for tracking, called Immigration Lifecycle Operating System, or ImmigrationOS, is set up, the ICE says, in order to reduce the amount of time and resources needed to choose and jail “violent criminals,” “transnational criminal companions of known criminal associations,” or migrants who exceeded their visa period.
The system will also provide “near real-time” tracking on those who voluntarily left the nation. Under the agreement, which some media outlets have published, ImmigrationOS will facilitate an “end-to-end immigration lifecycle from identification to removal.” The program prototype ordered from Palantir is due on Sept. 25 and will run for two years. It is a response to executive orders inked by U.S. President Donald Trump, who views irregular immigration as constituting a real threat to national security.
The recent strengthening of Palantir’s connections with ICE through these contracts raises serious concerns for the human rights of numerous immigrants and individuals seeking refuge in the US. These happenings can be traced back to actions taken previously, particularly following the September 11 episodes, which initiated requests for data from airlines and global corporations based outside the U.S.
However, the current situation greatly intensifies the extent of human rights violations by establishing a systematic approach to complete social control. This is aimed at increasing the efficiency of immigration agencies in deporting immigrants and pressuring them to depart willingly. It is thoroughly appalling as it deprives individuals of their dignity and rights.
Critics say that while all nations restrict some rights for foreigners, such restrictions are political, tied to citizenship status or, in rare instances, because there is a threat to national security. But however they arrive, they are completely entitled to their basic rights. They are, of course, entitled to privacy, their own image, education, not to have their liberty arbitrarily withheld from them, and a fair trial, among others.
The system of the Trump government is one of “completely surveilling a human being’s life, including geolocation and biometric monitoring. The intention is to handle a particular class of people in the most absolute way and totally stop them from being free. This surveillance technology keeps, say, an immigrant from visiting the doctor, buying credit cards, accessing Wi-Fi that allows geolocation, or simply strolling where there are facial recognition cameras.
