ICE and Palantir: US agents using health data to hunt illegal immigrants

Summary

Luke TaylorRio de JaneiroUS immigration agents are using an app developed by Palantir that draws on the health records of millions of Americans to find and detain illegal immigrants.The revelation comes as the US’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) comes under increased scrutiny after the shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37 year old intensive care nurse, by ICE agents in Minneapolis over the weekend.It has now emerged that data from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is being fed—along with other commercial and public datasets—into an analytics app developed by Palantir, according to an investigation by news outlet 404 Media.1Testimony from an ICE official and internal documents obtained by 404 show the app, Enhanced Leads Identification and Targeting for Enforcement (Elite), maps areas to help agents decide where to conduct detention raids.The tool was reportedly used in recent operations, including a raid in Oregon in October in which 30 people were arrested.According to the 404 investigation, Elite pulls names, addresses, and photos from health records. It reportedly works like Google Maps, showing ICE agents which areas have higher densities of people who could be detained. It also generates dossiers on individuals, including their name, photo, and “confidence scores” that they are at home.An HHS spokesperson contacted by The BMJ did not clarify what information was given to ICE but said the information sharing was permitted under national law.“Several federal laws authorise the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to make certain information available to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),” the spokesperson said. “Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, ‘any information in any records kept by any department or agency of the government as to the identity and location of aliens in the US shall be made available to’ immigration authorities.”There is no data sharing agreement between CMS and DHS on “US citizens and lawful perm...