Immigration and Customs Enforcement has dramatically expanded its surveillance arsenal in recent months, signing millions in new tech contracts to pursue both immigration violators and what the Trump administration has called radical antifa-linked agitators, The Washington Post reported.
Newly uncovered federal data and contracting records show ICE is rapidly building out a sweeping domestic intelligence network.
ICE has rapidly escalated its surveillance infrastructure, acquiring facial recognition software, phone hacking tools, and real-time location tracking systems in a sweeping expansion of its domestic intelligence reach, according to new federal contracting disclosures from the Post.
In September alone, ICE recorded roughly $1.4 billion in contract spending, its highest month in at least 18 years, with major purchases explicitly earmarked for long-term investigations of immigration offenses and antifa-linked protest networks.
The agency bought a $4.6 million mobile iris-scanning platform that allows field agents to match biometric data against federal databases instantly.
It also secured a separate $3.75 million contract with Clearview AI for facial recognition that draws on billions of online photographs.
ICE has also acquired commercial spyware capable of bypassing encrypted messaging apps and extracting locked smartphone content.
It is investing in platforms, including Penlink's Tangles and Weblocs, which track social media, dark-web forums, and live cellphone location signals. Analysts will monitor platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp, X, Reddit, and others for data signals tied to suspects.
The spending surge follows President Donald Trump's directive over the summer declaring antifa a domestic terror threat and ordering agencies to target anti-ICE protest "ringleaders."
Todd Lyons, ICE's acting director, said the agency would shift investigative resources toward those networks as part of a national security strategy.
"These acquisitions raise substantial concerns," John Sandweg, who served as acting ICE director in the Obama administration, told the Post. He warned that the agency may now hold surveillance capabilities comparable to elite federal counterterror units, but without equivalent oversight.
Civil liberties groups argue the expansion risks eroding Fourth Amendment search protections and may chill First Amendment political speech.
ICE has not confirmed whether warrants will be required before deploying phone hacking or persistent tracking tools. The agency said internal usage policies are still being drafted.
The White House has defended the expansion as a necessary measure to counter what it calls escalating extremist threats to federal officers and immigration centers.
Conservatives in Congress have largely praised the effort, describing it as an overdue modernization of federal enforcement capabilities.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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