Rep. Craig Joins Push to Prevent Trump Administration from Using Americans’ Personal Data to Carry out Reckless Immigration Agenda

WASHINGTON, DC – This week, U.S. Representative Angie Craig (MN-02) joined 33 Members of Congress in demanding answers from the Trump Administration about its alleged use of surveillance and data analytics tools developed by Palantir to execute the President’s lawless immigration agenda. In a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons, Rep. Craig and her colleagues expressed serious concerns following public reporting that DHS has been using such tools to aggregate personal data for the purpose of identifying and locating potential targets of immigration enforcement operations.

“Public reporting regarding DHS’ data analytics tools and software raise serious concerns about Palantir-developed technologies being used to compile, aggregate, and analyze large volumes of personal data and information,” the Members wrote. “These data-compiling systems reportedly allow DHS personnel to link individual profiles to addresses, phone numbers, devices, and other identifying information across multiple datasets in order to generate leads and identify potential locations of persons sought for immigration enforcement actions.”

“Even more troubling, Palantir-developed tools are not the only technologies being deployed by your department to fulfill the administration’s mass deportation campaign and daily arrest quotas. Public reporting further indicates that DHS has deployed a range of surveillance technologies that are provided by multiple private contractors,” the Members continued. “These tools contribute to a mass surveillance ecosystem that appears to operate in conjunction with Palantir-developed platforms and ultimately support enforcement operations conducted by DHS, some of which target U.S. Citizens."

Rep. Craig and her colleagues also cited evidence of ICE using surveillance tools during Operation Metro Surge to identify protesters and constitutional observers in Minnesota.

“During the recent so-called Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, immigration agents used facial recognition technology and other cellphone monitoring tools in public, including instances in which agents scanned the faces of individuals who were either observing or protesting enforcement activities,” they wrote.

“The combination of facial recognition tools, social media surveillance, and large-scale data aggregation systems and applications raise serious concerns about the operational use of personally identifiable information that belongs to individuals who are not suspected of any wrongdoing. Specifically, these technologies are seemingly being weaponized against citizens, journalists, and individuals engaged in constitutionally protected activities, which include lawful assembly and protest,” the Members concluded.

Finally, Rep. Craig and her colleagues demanded answers from the Administration by the end of the month about how they are using surveillance tools, such as the ones developed by Palantir, to carry out immigration enforcement operations like Operation Metro Surge.

You can read the full text of the letter HERE.

###