In a sweeping escalation of government surveillance, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is preparing to launch a 24/7 social media monitoring program, with plans to hire 30 private contractors who will scour every major platform—including X, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit—for immigration enforcement leads. According to Wired, the initiative, revealed in planning documents dated October 3, 2025, marks ICE’s latest move to harness cutting-edge technology and artificial intelligence in its increasingly aggressive efforts to identify, locate, and deport individuals suspected of violating immigration laws.
The new surveillance team will operate out of two locations: the National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center in Williston, Vermont, and the Pacific Enforcement Response Center in Santa Ana, California. These centers will serve as the nerve centers for a program that, according to ICE’s own solicitation documents, aims to “compile, process, and verify billions of daily location signals from hundreds of millions of mobile devices.” The agency’s ambitions don’t stop at public social media posts; contractors are also tasked with mining commercial databases, deep web, and darknet data sources for actionable intelligence.
ICE’s main surveillance database is provided by Palantir, a company with deep roots in government data analytics. In 2024, ICE signed a $2 million contract with Israeli spyware firm Paragon Solutions, whose “zero-click” program Graphite can stealthily infiltrate mobile phones and extract their contents—even from encrypted apps. This contract was briefly paused under the Biden administration, which sought to review compliance with new executive orders restricting the use of commercial spyware. However, as WIRED reports, the deal was reactivated after the Trump administration took office, signaling a renewed willingness to embrace controversial surveillance tools.
The list of technologies ICE is seeking is expansive and, to privacy advocates, deeply alarming. Procurement documents obtained by 404 Media and Forbes detail the agency’s interest in “all-in-one” products from PenLink, which merged in 2023 with the Israeli-founded company Cobwebs. These tools promise to gather historical data from multiple communication channels, mobile forensics, internet communications, financial records, and web intelligence. Another tool, Venntel, is currently being tested by ICE despite its creators being accused by the Federal Trade Commission in 2024 of “illegally tracking and selling” sensitive location data—including information about visits to health clinics and places of worship.
Don Bell, policy counsel for the Constitution Project at the Government Oversight advocacy group, minced no words in his warning to The Independent: “This is likely unconstitutional. Normally, if law enforcement wants to seize your phone and get your location data, they need a warrant, but because the law hasn't caught up with technology, there's a loophole that effectively allows law enforcement to buy location data, which is confidential, without first obtaining a warrant.” Bell added, “This seems to be part of a much broader pattern of ICE trying to collect everything it can. Even if it means collecting information about Americans that is different from their stated goal, and that becomes even more alarming and dangerous because it seems this administration is also redefining what it means to be in opposition.”
The political context is crucial. Under the Biden administration, the Department of Homeland Security had paused purchases of location data after the Inspector General found the agency had broken the law. But since President Trump’s return to office, the administration has pushed for expanded surveillance powers and a dramatic increase in funding for mass deportation campaigns. As The Independent notes, ICE has also entered into agreements with other government agencies—including the IRS and Medicaid—to access highly sensitive personal data, further broadening its reach.
ICE’s reach isn’t limited to digital surveillance. The agency has previously sought to monitor social media not just for enforcement leads, but also to suppress dissent. In November 2024, ICE released a solicitation for contractors to analyze “behavioral and social media sentiment” toward ICE operations, raising concerns from Democratic officials about the chilling effect on free speech—especially among U.S. citizens protesting the agency’s activities. Critics warn that facial recognition software and mobile tracking could be used against protesters and ideological opponents, blurring the line between immigration enforcement and political surveillance.
One particularly striking detail: ICE’s solicitation documents continue to mention defunct platforms like Google+ (which shut down in 2019) and its successor, Currents (shut down in 2023), as targets for data mining. This oddity, as pointed out by The Register, suggests a disconnect between the agency’s technological ambitions and its grasp of the current digital landscape. Still, the inclusion of a wide range of platforms—mainstream and obscure alike—speaks to the breadth of ICE’s surveillance net.
The consequences of this ramped-up surveillance are already being felt beyond government agencies. On October 2, 2025, Apple, under pressure from the Trump administration and the Department of Justice, removed several apps—including ICEBlock—from its App Store. These apps allowed users to anonymously report and track ICE sightings within a five-mile radius, serving as digital watchdogs for vulnerable communities. The administration argued that such tools endangered federal agents, especially after a recent shooting at an ICE facility. Apple cited its guidelines on “objectionable content” and safety risks in its decision, as reported by CBS News.
Developers and privacy advocates decried the removal as a blow to free speech and community organizing. Joshua Aaron, the creator of ICEBlock, told CNBC that his app was inspired by the Trump administration’s deportation policies, which he compared to historical resistance movements. On social media, reactions were polarized: some users lamented the loss of a tool for immigrant rights, while others praised the move as a necessary safeguard for law enforcement.
The episode underscores the growing tensions between technology companies and government authorities over surveillance, privacy, and the boundaries of acceptable speech. Apple’s compliance, observers say, could set a precedent for future government demands to remove apps deemed threatening—from protest organizers to whistleblower platforms. As Reuters notes, the incident is likely to intensify scrutiny of how tech giants respond to executive pressure, especially as debates over privacy and security reach new heights.
Looking ahead, ICE’s formalization of its social media surveillance team could extend through 2031, with contractors embedded in facilities across Vermont and California. The agency’s embrace of AI, facial recognition, and vast commercial data sets signals an era where the digital footprints of millions—citizens and noncitizens alike—are subject to unprecedented scrutiny. For privacy advocates, legal scholars, and ordinary Americans, the stakes have rarely felt higher.
As the lines between immigration enforcement, technological power, and civil liberties blur, the U.S. faces difficult questions about the price of security and the future of privacy in a digitally connected world.
