Filing Says Ice Stored Protester Information In Palantir-built System
A Maine court filing alleges that DHS agents recorded information about ICE observers in a Palantir-built case management system; the government disputes the plaintiffs’ characterization of its conduct.
Department of Homeland Security agents created records on people observing or protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity and stored information about them in a Palantir-built system, according to a partially unsealed court filing reported by Wired and Engadget. The records allegedly included photos and license plate information. DHS disputes the lawsuit, while government attorneys say an agent’s actions were isolated and contrary to policy.
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What the filing alleges
The filing concerns a January immigration enforcement operation in Maine and is part of a proposed class action brought by four ICE observers in federal court. Filed under seal in September, a redacted version became public Friday, according to Wired.
Wired reports that an agent identified in the filing as “J.C.” created records in Investigative Case Management, or ICM, a system used by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit to document investigations. The filing says he made records on at least six observers; the government puts the number at eight. It also says he labeled two people he filmed in a Home Depot parking lot “Threat to Law Enforcement, Professional Protestor” and sent photos to a Customs and Border Protection officer for a facial-recognition search.
According to the filing, after plaintiff Polyxenia Pantos photographed an arrest in Portland, Maine, J.C. ran a plate associated with the car beside which Pantos stood. He then obtained information about its owner, plaintiff Carlyn Williams, from a law-enforcement database and allegedly circulated her photo to colleagues.
A disputed warning and its effects
Williams says J.C. later called her and suggested that Pantos stop observing ICE activity because people doing so might be added to a domestic terrorism watchlist. Wired reports that J.C. testified he warned Williams she could be arrested if she continued, while government attorneys said he denied mentioning a watchlist. Engadget reports that the plaintiffs also allege agents drove by observers’ homes.
The observers’ attorneys say the alleged conduct chilled their First Amendment rights. According to Wired, Pantos stopped observing ICE after the call, and Williams stopped after continuing briefly. The plaintiffs are asking the court to restrict DHS’s use of the information collected about them and to prohibit certain threats and home surveillance by agents in Maine.
What DHS says about the database
Palantir built ICM, but the existence of that case management system is distinct from the disputed claim that DHS maintains a database of protesters. A DHS spokesperson called the case “meritless” and rejected the premise that the department runs a database of “domestic terrorists,” Wired reports. In an earlier letter cited by Wired, a former acting ICE director said the agency does not maintain a database of US citizens protesting ICE activities.
Government attorneys argue that the incidents were isolated, that DHS policy prohibits the conduct at issue, and that J.C. created records on people he believed might pose threats to law enforcement. They say he did not try to place anyone on a terrorist watchlist. Palantir did not immediately respond to Wired’s request for comment.
Sources
This story was compiled by AI from the reports below. Read the originals for the full details.