Three House Democrats questioned the Department of Homeland Security on Monday over a reported Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract with a spyware provider that they warn potentially “threatens Americans’ freedom of movement and freedom of speech.”
Their letter follows publication of a notice that ICE had lifted a stop-work order on a $2 million deal with Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions, a contract that the Biden administration had frozen one year ago pending a review of its compliance with a spyware executive order.
Paragon is the maker of Graphite, and advertises it as having more safeguards than competitors that have received more public and legal scrutiny, such as NSO Group’s Pegasus, a claim researchers have challenged. A report earlier this year found suspected deployments of Graphite in countries across the globe, with targets including journalists and activists. WhatsApp also notified users this year about a Paragon-linked campaign targeting them. The tool can infect phones without its target having to click on any malicious lure, then mine data from them.
“Given the Trump Administration’s disregard for constitutional rights and civil liberties in pursuit of rapid mass deportation, we are seriously concerned that ICE will abuse Graphite software to target immigrants, people of color, and individuals who express opposition to ICE’s repeated attacks on the rule of law,” the three congressional Democrats, two of whom serve as ranking members of House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittees, wrote Monday.
The trio behind the letter are Reps. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, top Democrat on the Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement; Ohio Rep. Shontel Brown, ranking member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology and Government Innovation; and Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona.
Their letter pointed to two Supreme Court rulings — Riley v. California from 2014 and Carpenter v. United States from 2018 — that addressed warrantless surveillance of cellular data. “Allowing ICE to utilize spyware raises serious questions about whether ICE will respect Fourth Amendment protections against warrantless search and seizure for people residing in the U.S.,” the lawmakers wrote.
The trio also asked for communications and documents about ICE’s use of spyware, as well as legal discussions about ICE using spyware and its compliance with the 2023 Biden executive order. They also sought a list of data surveillance targets.
ICE’s surveillance tactics have long drawn attention, but they’ve gained more attention in the Trump administration, which has sought to vastly expand the agency. ICE has conducted raids that have often swept in U.S. citizens. Other federal contracting records have pointed to ICE’s intentions to develop a 24/7 social media surveillance regime.
DHS and ICE did not immediately answer requests for comment about the Democrats’ letter. ICE has not provided answers about the contract in other media inquiries.
404 Media is suing for information about the ICE contract.
