Ramirez, Johnson Host Oversight Hearing on the Threat to Democracy Posed by ICE’s Use of Technology for Mass Surveillance

Washington, DC - Yesterday, Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Immigration Taskforce and Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee, and Congressman Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (GA-04) co-anchored a hearing, "The Tech Behind ICE: Oligarchs, Immigration Enforcement, and the Threat to Democracy," on ICE's use of technology for mass surveillance, threatening democracy and eroding civil rights. The hearing comes after an explosive report by Mijente outlined how technology is being utilized by the administration to supercharge the surveillance state and expand immigration enforcement.

The hearing also shed light on how a small group of tech oligarchs is benefiting economically and politically from the contracts provided by the Trump Administration. For example, Palantir, an AI software company powering ICE's targeting system, received over $1.8 billion in government funding since January 2025 alone.

"As a Chicagoan, I know Black and Brown communities are no strangers to overpolicing, surveillance, and criminalization. And I have had a front row seat as the Trump administration has aggressively accelerated the use of technology and artificial intelligence in its militarized immigration enforcement campaign. Private companies, like Palantir, ClearviewAI, and Flock Safety, are all amassing record-breaking profits from the surveillance, detention, and deportation of our friends, families, and neighbors," said Rep. Ramirez. "Today's witness will help us understand what Congress must do to defend our communities and civil liberties from DHS's ever-expanding surveillance state."

"I want to thank Rep. Ramirez for holding this critical shadow hearing. Americans cannot afford gas, groceries, or healthcare, yet the Trump Administration and MAGA Republicans are pouring money into funding these mass surveillance tools used by ICE agents operating with impunity. It has got to stop. We must fight back," said Rep. Johnson.

During the hearing, the members of Congress heard from expert witnesses how the Trump administration's use of technology and artificial intelligence in its immigration enforcement is eroding civil liberties, weakening democratic protections, normalizing mass surveillance, and deepening environmental and social harms in communities across the country. They also called on Members of Congress to act now, utilizing the power of subpoena, appropriations, and oversight to bring the CEOs of technology companies to testify in Congress and to protect communities from mass surveillance. The hearing included the testimonies of:

• Paromita Shah, Executive Director, Just Futures Law
• Tania Unzueta, Political Director and co-founder, Mijente
• Jesse Franzblau, Associate Director of Policy, NIJC
• Bruce Nestor, attorney, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Senator Graciela Guzmán, Illinois State Senator

"ICE and CBP are not only immigration policing agencies; they are also central pillars of the new security state with a rapidly expanding surveillance apparatus powered by AI-driven technologies, private contractors, and massive data-sharing systems. DHS hosts the largest biometric repository in the federal government and is actively involved in efforts to force -combine IRS, health, housing, and social security data with immigration data. Through biometric databases, data analytics, facial recognition, mobile phone extraction, license plate readers, drones, social media monitoring, and data broker networks, DHS agencies are now funded to build surveillance systems designed to identify, track, profile, and target people at an unprecedented scale," said Shah in her testimony.

"In 2018, Mijente, together with Paromita Shah and Mizue Aizeki, published the seminal report Who's Behind ICE: The Tech and Data Companies Fueling Deportations. That report exposed how private technology and data companies were powering DHS enforcement and profiting from deportation. We named companies like Palantir, LexisNexis, and Amazon, corporations that remain central to ICE's operations today," said Unzueta in her testimony. "Nearly ten years later, that same surveillance infrastructure is generating even greater profits. Palantir alone has received more than $1.8 billion in federal contracts since 2025, including a $1 billion DHS agreement that allows ICE and CBP to buy its tools without competitive bidding. But what must be clear from the start is this: this is no longer just about profit. It is about power."

"Lawmakers must also act at the federal level, including by cutting funds for ICE or Border Patrol, and redirecting funds away from surveillance-related contracts and towards communities. Congress can also place restrictions on funding for surveillance technologies through the FY27 Appropriations process, place restrictions on surveillance authorities, freeze any new contracts, require stringent reviews of existing programs, require robust firewalls so DHS cannot use and abuse data from other agencies, and end the programs found to systematically violate privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties rights," said Franzblau in his testimony.

"The Administration's aggressive acceleration of the use of technology and artificial intelligence in its militarized immigration enforcement campaign not only threatens the privacy and safety of immigrants and citizens alike but is also done with the intent of facilitating the repression of any opposition to the Administration and its increasingly authoritarian and unconstitutional behavior. What we have seen in Minnesota over the past six months is the use of paramilitary force to suppress political opposition. The growth in surveillance technology and the use of artificial intelligence to augment that physical force pose a direct threat to our remaining democratic institutions and freedoms and require immediate action by Congress before the forces of repression have grown too strong to be stopped by democratic and popular means," said Nestor in his testimony.

"I never imagined that, as a state legislator, I would write laws to protect Illinois residents from their own federal government. But that is exactly where we are. And if we think this ends with immigrants, history tells us otherwise. Every database expanded, every contract signed, every algorithm deployed, and every constitutional protection ignored becomes the foundation for the next abuse of power. Congress must stop that cycle: abolish DHS, end federal data purchases that sidestep constitutional protections, hold corporations accountable, and protect states defending our people," said Senator Guzmán in her testimony.

For the full recording of the hearing, CLICK HERE.

For Congresswoman Ramirez's remarks as prepared for delivery, CLICK HERE.

For Congressman Johnson's remarks as prepared for delivery, CLICK HERE.

For witnesses' testimony,CLICK HERE.

For photos of the event, CLICK HERE.