Palantir Held a Hack Week to Add New Controls to Software Used by ICE

Palantir recently organized a hack week this spring aimed at transforming employee concerns regarding the company's collaborations with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) into advanced oversight tools for applications utilized in the Trump administration's immigration enforcement initiatives, as noted in materials reviewed by WIRED.

The newly developed tools enhance the capabilities of organizations, including DHS and ICE, by supplying detailed insights on user interactions with Palantir software. These tools allow organizations to set alerts for "concerning behavior," such as unauthorized data access, and to review session logs for individual users. Additionally, they enable organizations to identify which users have accessed specific sets of information.

Palantir regularly conducts hack weeks, encouraging engineers throughout the company to explore and devise solutions for challenges within its products. This particular hack week was centered around addressing Palantir's operations with DHS and ICE, which have faced criticism from external stakeholders and employees who are concerned that the company's tools are facilitating aggressive immigration enforcement efforts.

"This initiative reflects the ethos of the Palantir I choose to be part of," stated Ted Mabrey, head of Palantir's commercial business, in an email to staff earlier in May. "You can express cynicism in chat channels, doubt your colleagues, and side with narrative-driven outsiders who misrepresent Palantir’s contributions, or you can choose to engage constructively and innovate."

Uniting employees from various divisions, this year's hack week prioritized the development of tools aimed at enhancing oversight of user activities on platforms such as Foundry, Palantir's data integration and analysis system.

Palantir's engagement with ICE has experienced significant growth over the past year. Previously reported by WIRED, ICE allocated $30 million to Palantir for the development of a tool known as "ImmigrationOS," which is designed to offer "near real-time visibility" regarding self-deportations from the United States. Additionally, reports indicate that the company has developed a separate system named Enhanced Leads Identification & Targeting for Enforcement (ELITE), which generates maps of individuals designated for deportation.

Some of the innovative tools crafted during the hack week have already been implemented, while others are anticipated for deployment later this year, according to an email reviewed by WIRED. One team leader stated, "These tools significantly enhance the usability of audit logs and checkpoints, not only under Palantir's DHS contract but across all environments where Foundry functions in sensitive contexts."

"This hack week illustrated that Palantir can leverage internal scrutiny regarding the DHS contract to establish further safeguards at the platform level," the team leader noted in the May email. "Instead of shying away from challenging assignments, forward-deployed engineers across the company were eager to take on the challenge."

Palantir's relationship with ICE has faced substantial internal dissent in light of the February incident involving the fatal shooting of Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents. Internal discussions on Slack, examined by WIRED, revealed employees expressing ethical concerns regarding the company's work and calling for greater transparency.

"Is there any way Palantir can exert influence over ICE?" one employee asked during that period. "I've come across reports of individuals who were detained while seeking asylum, despite having no orders for removal and maintaining consistent communication with authorities. There seems to be no justification for their detainment. Surely we’re not complicit in that process?"

Nevertheless, Palantir has persisted in its collaboration with ICE. In February, DHS formalized a $1 billion purchasing agreement with Palantir, facilitating easier access to the company's products across all branches of the agency, including ICE. This agreement solidified Palantir's position within DHS and outlined pathways for sub-agencies, such as the US Secret Service, to engage with the company.

On May 6, the company provided updates on its internal wiki regarding its ICE contracts, announcing the attainment of its first full task order under the purchasing agreement, which extends the ImmigrationOS pilot program into a formal product through spring 2027. According to public contracting records, DHS allocated $86 million to Palantir for this extension, which encompasses the "modernization and operational capability" of ICE's case management software.