ICE Gave New Hires Access to Restricted Info on Palantir App Before They Passed Background Checks

During the peak of President Trump's immigration enforcement push in Minneapolis, a new AI-driven app called ELITE, developed by Palantir and backed by the CIA, became available on the devices of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officers. ELITE, short for Enhanced Lead Identification and Targeting, assists ICE in pinpointing immigrants and assigns a "confidence score" to the reliability of the information about a target.

The app gathers data from various government agencies and sources to compile dossiers on targets, create lists, and map their locations. The emergence of ELITE occurred as ICE significantly increased its workforce, adding over 12,000 new employees through an accelerated hiring surge, which meant many new recruits were placed on the job before they had completed background checks.

This situation raised concerns about civil liberties and national security, as reported by Reuters in early 2026. According to ICE whistleblowers, former DHS officials, and legal experts, no one should have been hired by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) without a thorough background review. Mary Ellen Callahan, former chief of staff to the deputy secretary of Homeland Security, stated that this practice never occurred under previous administrations.

Moreover, providing newly hired ICE ERO staff with access to sensitive databases like ELITE poses potential threats to public safety by allowing unvetted teams to misuse data. The ELITE app, which comes standard on every ICE deportation officer's phone, does not undergo the standard government processes to prevent abuse and protect privacy rights.

One ICE officer, speaking anonymously to The Intercept, confirmed that the app is accessible without a full background clearance. ELITE's user guide outlines a dozen different data sources, including sensitive information such as addresses, criminal histories, immigration records, court rulings, and personal details of both immigrants and U.S. citizens.

Although the Department of Homeland Security's privacy office is supposed to conduct and publish privacy impact assessments (PIAs) for new or significantly modified technology that handles personally identifiable information (PII), ELITE remains unassessed. The privacy office has only published one PIA all year, compared to the 228 PIAs conducted by the former privacy officer during her three-and-a-half-year tenure.

Privacy experts argue that the absence of a PIA for ELITE undermines transparency and accountability, which are crucial elements of privacy policy under the E-Government Act of 2002.