ICE windfall from Trump megabill fuels surveillance juggernaut

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is on a surveillance spending spree: The agency is using much of its windfall from this summer's "big beautiful bill" to fund a major expansion of biometric identification, cellphone tracking and other electronic capabilities.Why it matters: The megabill's $75 billion cash infusion for ICE was sold by Congress as a way to speed up hiring new agents and adding detention space. But ICE is also going big on surveillance.The new surveillance spending includes:A contract with Clearview AI, which provides a facial recognition algorithm.A multimillion-dollar contract with BI² for its biometric data system I.R.I.S., which promises a real-time identification of a person after taking a photo of their eye, according to the company website.A restarted contract with Paragon Solutions, which provides software that can remotely access smartphone data, as The Washington Post reported. The Biden administration had banned Paragon as an unethical spyware company. Buying access to a real-time smartphone location tracking system from the digital intelligence company Penlink, as 404 Media reported. Penlink platforms are used for "integrating location data from multiple sources, building event timelines for case development and correlation with external events," according to a partially redacted government contract description.The other side: Cooper Quintin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties nonprofit, said the new spending raises the possibility of "targeted surveillance, not just of undocumented people, but of American citizens as well."Quintin said ICE could say: "Who owns all of the phones that have been outside of the ICE facility every night for the last three nights? And let's send them all to HSI for investigation." HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) is the investigative arm of ICE.What we're watching: Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, said it's been difficult to follow the purposes of these new contracts because the agency hasn't been responsive."I don't have facts right now, and I like to operate based on facts," Peters said. "The fact that I don't have facts makes me very uncomfortable."Zoom in: ICE has added about 7,000 beds across private and state-run facilities since the "big beautiful bill" became law this summer, according to press releases on new additions.ICE's goal is roughly 50,000 new beds, to bring the total capacity to 100,000. ICE declined to share how many recruits have trained and gotten on board since the bill passed. Its goal is 10,000 more agents. The agency has decreased the training time and Spanish-language training for new agents, and lifted an age cap. It's also running a multimillion-dollar recruitment ad campaign.ICE didn't respond to requests for comment. The backstory: ICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, have a long history of using the private sector to expand surveillance capabilities. In 2022, the ACLU published thousands of pages outlining a partnership between ICE and Customs and Border Protection with Venntel and Babel Street, which provided real-time cell phone location data.An Inspector General's report said the use of this location data violated the agency's own privacy laws. Advocates also warned about possible Fourth Amendment violations.

Comments

World news

Global News

The ‘Client List’, Mar-A-Lago, and celebrity parties: All the biggest Trump-Epstein revelations from Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir

about 1 hour ago

San Francisco leaders push back against Trump's National Guard threat

Independent

Comments

Similar News

Trump has spent 700 percent more on deadly weapons for ICE this year. Here’s what they now have

ICE scrambles to hire healthcare workers for facilities as deaths and lawsuits rise

Border official defends use of ICE’s aggressive tactics in Chicago

Noem accused of posting fake video of Black men threatening ICE agents

NHL team forced to apologize for ‘offensive’ pro-ICE message displayed during Hispanic heritage night game

Lawmakers slam Ice after US military veterans are arrested, injured

How the Supreme Court placed ICE above the law

Man seeking asylum in Canada trapped at US Ice facility after he says he crossed border by mistake

Commentary: ICE ads are playing on a streamer near you. Can they survive the online rebellion?

California labor leader charged over blocking ICE agents sees felony cut to misdemeanor

Family traumatized after armed ICE agents kick in door with mom and baby in room to arrest two suspects

Migrant arrested after posting on TikTok offering a $10K bounty for ICE agents

At least 11 detained after protesters and police clash outside Chicago Ice center

Popular grocery chain recalls ice cream after a possibly ‘serious or life-threatening’ mistake

Trump goes on spyware purchasing blitz to help ICE find people who they claim want to ‘overthrow of the United States Government’

Woman killed 11-year-old stepdaughter with rat poison laced ice cream

Trump to pay Ice and border agents amid shutdown as other federal workers go unpaid

How the murder of an ice-cream seller from Florida embodies a hidden war in the West Bank

The Last Columbia Protester in ICE Detention

Woman fired after threatening to ‘call ICE’ on Dodgers fan during playoff game

World news

Edmonton election 2025: See which candidates Global News has declared for city council

Parks Canada releases two reports on Jasper fire confirming cause, development

Andrew Knack to be the next mayor of Edmonton

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston shuffles cabinet, drops three ministers

Global News projects first Calgary city councillors elected

Vancouver Park Board adds paid parking at some facilities

Woman dead after shooting in Brampton, Ont., police investigating

Jewels stolen from Louvre worth estimated £76 million, according to French prosecutor as manhunt continues

Fox host wildly claims NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani wants to ‘eliminate’ city’s entire Jewish population

Which is the safest city in America? NYC suburb ranks in the top 5

‘We have Darth Vader’: Trump introduces Star Wars villain as Republican hero in rambling ‘Rose Garden Club’ lunch

‘Why are you gay?’: Musk appears to cross a line in SpaceX tantrum at Trump Transportation secretary

Cost of Halloween costumes and candy spooking shoppers this year as Trump’s tariffs could spike prices

The ‘Client List’, Mar-A-Lago, and celebrity parties: All the biggest Trump-Epstein revelations from Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir

San Francisco leaders push back against Trump's National Guard threat

Police van set on fire at Citywest migrant hotel protest in Dublin

Leafs paying close attention to Blue Jays’ run

Saskatchewan Health Authority renews surgical partnership, aims to reduce wait times

Waffles sold at Dollarama recalled across Canada due to mold

Suicidal man wanted RCMP to shoot him in Sherwood Park in July, ASIRT says

Unreasonable to cancel election won by single vote, lawyer for Liberal MP says

Ontario’s fall fiscal update set for Nov. 6 as tariff impacts continue

Donald Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin in Hungary 'cancelled', White House confirms

Detroit pastor under fire after publicly demanding $2,000 from parishioner who only offered a $1,200 donation

Florida man deliberately accelerated his BMW towards children playing in street after arguing with them: police

Cancelling the Putin-Trump Budapest summit ends the fantasy the US president can deliver peace in Ukraine

Trump’s first-ever Antifa indictment signals DOJ is opening a much bigger case against left-wing groups

Feeling ill? Doctors say you should avoid this common activity

Ex-CIA chief John Brennan referred for criminal prosecution over ‘Russiagate,’ is latest Trump foe in DOJ crosshairs

Trump demands DOJ pay him $230m for cases against him. His ex-lawyers Blanche and Bondi will likely decide claim

British troops sent to Israel to monitor Gaza ceasefire

States across the US warn millions will lose food stamp benefits in a week due to government shutdown

Four key questions about Jeffrey Epstein that Virginia Giuffre’s tell-all memoir fails to answer

Trump told LSU team they were ‘ripping’ up his hand from strong shakes as uses makeup to hide bruises

‘Priceless’ crown jewels snatched from Louvre do have a price: £76,000,000

Japan’s First Female Prime Minister Inherits a Shaky Office

China Announces Military Purge Ahead of Fourth Plenum

A new Supreme Court case could turn the National Guard into Trump&#8217;s personal army

Boris Johnson denies UK failure in planning COVID school closures but apologizes for mistakes

Cameroon arrests at least 20 protesters as tensions escalate after presidential election

'Weaponised' Maccabi-Villa game is already a fraught fixture - and there are still two weeks to go

Stolen Louvre 'crown jewels' were worth £76MILLION as Paris police issue major security update

British troops sent to Israel to help maintain Gaza ceasefire after US request

Woman suddenly dies after botched Turkey liposuction leaves her in coma

Ukrainian city in total blackout after 'massive' Russian assault

Asylum seeker denies being at railway station where Walsall hotel worker was killed

Missed out on Blue Jays World Series tickets? Cheapest resale seats priced at $2K

N.B. government warns of economic headwinds, presents plan to boost growth

Pardoned Capitol rioter arrested after alleged threat to kill Democratic leader

Winnipeg duo facing multiple charges after Westdale drug search

Tip left on a GoFundMe page helps police arrest suspect in 8-year-old murder cold case

The ‘996’ work trend comes with dire health warnings

Waymo now under federal investigation after reports self-driving taxis don’t stop for school buses

‘No plans’ for Trump-Putin meeting ‘in the immediate future’ despite president’s claims of Hungary summit: White House

Funeral worker in Texas dies after being crushed by burial vault

‘Never seen something so extreme’: Palestinian woman nearly clubbed to death by Jewish settler

White House responds to claims that Diddy will be pardoned this week days after George Santos was released

A new Supreme Court case could turn the National Guard into Trump’s personal army