Documents obtained by Democracy Forward via a FOIA request reveal that DHS officials examined using a Palantir-supported tool to investigate alleged illegal voting. The records show ICE's Homeland Security Investigations division, through its Innovation Lab, has been developing systems that combine DOJ voting rolls and USCIS data, with plans to later add criminal history records. The same document cache shows DHS has investigated more than 150 nonprofits over suspicions they helped noncitizens register to vote.
wired.com
· 2026-10-08
The US Department of Homeland Security has published a proposed rule that would make universities pay up to $100,000 to let international graduates participate in Optional Practical Training (OPT), a program letting foreign students work in the US for up to three years after graduation. DHS estimates the change could cut OPT enrollment by as much as 44% and cost universities $8.4–$16.5 billion annually; roughly 420,000 students used OPT in 2025–26.
nature.com
· 2026-10-08
A partially unsealed court filing from a class-action lawsuit over a January ICE operation in Maine alleges that DHS agents compiled dossiers on people who observed or protested ICE activity, storing photos and license plate numbers in Palantir's Investigative Case Management database. The filing claims agents labeled some individuals 'Threat to Law Enforcement, Professional Protestor' and, in one instance, warned a plaintiff's spouse by phone that such activity could lead to inclusion on a domestic terrorism watchlist. DHS told Wired the lawsuit is 'meritless' and denied any database tracking people as domestic terrorists.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-03
A new lawsuit alleges that DHS agents drove past the homes of people who were observing or protesting ICE activity as an apparent intimidation tactic. The suit further claims those individuals' names were entered into Homeland Security's investigations database, which is built on Palantir technology, according to Wired.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-10-03
According to GitHub documents reviewed by The Washington Post, US Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security, will deploy Google AI tools to recommend redactions on FOIA requests. By the end of September, AI will handle documents covering over 10 percent of FOIA requests—roughly 100,000 to 140,000 cases—with DHS staff reviewing the AI's suggestions afterward. Other agencies are pursuing similar tools: the Interior Department uses Microsoft software for attorney-client redactions, the DoJ uses Veriton's aiWARE for video redaction, and HHS is building its own tool called FRED.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-28
The Supreme Court ruled that the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration can allow states to access a database containing sensitive citizenship and Social Security information to check for noncitizen voters. The ruling permits the program to move forward while related legal challenges continue.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-25
Technology industry associations are pressing the Trump administration to withdraw a proposed Department of Homeland Security rule that would impose a $103,265 fee on H-1B visa applications. The proposal has revived long-running tensions between the administration and tech companies over the future of skilled-worker immigration policy.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-24
404 Media reports that Customs and Border Protection operates a little-known unit, the Predictive Intelligence Targeting Team, which reportedly analyzes Americans' financial transaction records and other data to identify people for traffic stops and further scrutiny. CBP declined to detail its methods, citing operational security, while civil liberties attorneys argue the program extends surveillance far beyond CBP's traditional border mission.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-08
404 Media has uncovered that Border Patrol operates secretive 'Predictive Intelligence Targeting Teams' (PITT) that analyze Americans' financial records and other personal data to flag individuals for local police to stop, even without suspicion of a specific crime. In one documented case, a PITT's analysis of a Montana driver's finances led local police to pull him over on a pretextual charge of an obstructed license plate, resulting in a DUI arrest. PITT units have been identified operating in Washington's Spokane Sector and Texas's Laredo Sector, expanding on prior reporting about Border Patrol's use of automatic license plate readers for similar predictive targeting.
404media.co
· 2026-09-08
After a federal judge twice rejected requests for search warrants targeting the YouTube accounts of journalists Georgia Fort and Don Lemon, the Department of Homeland Security pursued the same information through an administrative summons under a customs statute (19 USC 1509) that requires only internal DHS sign-off, not judicial approval. DHS also obtained six months of Fort's phone records without notifying her or giving her a chance to contest it. The customs law is intended for verifying import duties, not for investigations unrelated to trade.
theguardian.com
· 2026-08-29
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