Palantir Technologies’ data tracking software and Artificial Intelligence tools are playing a huge role in the ICE sweeps plaguing communities throughout the US, sparking a national day of protests and concerns over a revolving door between the company and key government agencies. The contracts Palantir holds with the US government are largely responsible for soaring profits at the company, so far the second-best-performing stock in the S&P 500 in 2025.
Analysis
Since its founding by Alex Karp and billionaire investor Peter Thiel in 2003, Palantir Technologies has grown into a $36 billion company, largely thanks to its biggest and best client, the US Government. Its software and data analytics tools are used by federal law enforcement agencies to track and arrest people, by the Defense Department to analyze drone footage, by ICE agents to find and deport immigrants, and by local governments like the Los Angeles Police Department, which uses Palantir’s “predictive policing” tool to fight crime.
Palantir’s contracts with military and law enforcement agencies involve analyzing social media profiles, personal information, and physical characteristics to identify, arrest, and prosecute immigrants and others in the crosshairs of the police or the government. Their data-analyzing software uses AI to pull information from a multitude of sources and compiles it into charts, tables, and heat maps.
Palantir’s products can access just about anything: tax returns, employment records, records from educational institutions, immigration status, information on spouses, children, and siblings. After doing so, it uses AI to predict a person’s movements and patterns, making the work of ICE agents much easier.
These activities have aroused public anger for years. In 2019, demonstrators protested outside of Palantir’s Palo Alto offices, shouting, “Immigrants are welcome here, time to cancel Palantir.” That same year, over 200 employees sent a letter to Mr. Karp complaining of the use of the company’s software by ICE agents, a $49 million contract at the time.
Now, with the company’s software a cornerstone of the immigration crackdowns initiated by the Trump administration, protests are growing. As are profits. Not just for Palantir itself, but for the architect of Trump’s draconian immigration enforcement campaign, Stephen Miller, who has disclosed ownership of up to a quarter million dollars of stock in Palantir.
Others in government are getting in on the act. Congressman James Comer (R-Kentucky), Chair of the House Oversight Committee, from Kentucky bought $15,000 worth of stock in Palantir on the day Trump was inaugurated. Since then, the company’s stock has risen 73%, largely due to its booming business with the US government. In just one of many deals this year, Palantir inked an AI contract with the Department of Defense worth $795 million contract, adding to the previous $480 million contract it entered last year
According to the Tech Transparency project, Palantir has also been “laying the groundwork for a much deeper infiltration of Washington, building a sprawling influence network designed to secure government business for years to come.” That network is being built through a revolving door with the Trump administration; many Palantir executives have been given government positions, and many former government officials now work at Palantir.
Activists are fighting back. Thirteen former employees publicly condemned the company’s work with the Trump administration after it inked a $30 million deal with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide “near real-time visibility” into the movement of migrants in the U.S.
Six protestors who were arrested in front of Palantir’s New York City offices recently were demonstrating to bring attention to the firm’s work on targeting immigrants for deportation. The protest was organized by Planet Over Profit, a climate justice group that also works to challenge systemic inequality, with support from the immigrant rights group Mijente.
In Los Angeles, protesters converged at Palantir’s offices in June, occupying the lobby for a short time. More than 100 showed up at the company’s Palo Alto offices to decry the company as part of the “big brother” surveillance state, reportedly interrupting a recruiting event.
Many of these protests also reference the use of Palantir’s technology by the Israeli Defense Forces, which use it extensively to attack people in the ongoing attacks in the Gaza Strip. Protests are frequent at Palantir’s Denver headquarters, including one on May 15 by pro-Palestine groups marking Nabka Day, the day of the catastrophic displacement of Palestinians in 1948.
A coordinated national day of action against Palantir was held on July 14, with protests in Denver, Palo Alto, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and New York City. Activists interviewed on Democracy Now criticized the company’s increasing reach both here in the US and in Israel, saying, “our governments and Palantir should not be working side by side.” Unfortunately, they are getting closer and closer all the time.
Engagement Resources
Inside Palantir’s Expanding Influence Operation, February 7, 2025
https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/inside-palantirs-expanding-influence-operation
Stephen Miller’s Financial Stake in ICE Contractor Palantir, Nick Schwellenbach, June 24, 2025, https://www.pogo.org/investigations/stephen-miller-conflicts-of-interest
“Purge Palantir”: Day of Action Protests Firm’s Role in Gov’t Surveillance, ICE & Genocide in Gaza, July 15, 2025, https://www.democracynow.org/2025/7/15/doge_20