The Bottom Line: NPR's March 4th investigation documented how ICE built a surveillance web reaching into every aspect of American life. Facial recognition apps. License plate readers. Social media monitoring. Data-sharing deals with the IRS, HHS, and DMVs. And administrative subpoenas to unmask critics, all without warrants.
This isn't speculation. It's built on sworn testimony from ICE agents, dozens of first-hand accounts from surveillance targets, and contract documents.
The Surveillance Tools
Here's what ICE agents carry in their pockets.
Mobile Fortify
A facial recognition app that runs against CBP's facial comparison database and DHS fingerprint records. Immigration lawyers told NPR their clients were scanned with the app during enforcement operations, and detained based on inaccurate matches [1].
In one Oregon case, Mobile Fortify failed to identify a farmworker, twice. She was still taken into custody.
DHS claims the app operates with a "deliberately high matching threshold." The misidentifications tell a different story.
ELITE (Palantir)
An AI-powered app that shows locations of potentially deportable individuals. ICE Agent J.B. described it under oath as functioning like "Google Maps," but for finding people to deport [2].
ELITE integrates data from across DHS systems plus new information from partner agencies. Deployment began June 2026.
Agent J.B. testified the app provides "leads" for selecting operation locations, displaying deportable individuals and the likelihood they're at a given residence.
Related: ELITE App: How ICE Uses AI Confidence Scores
Clearview AI
The facial recognition company with access to billions of internet images. CBP signed a recent contract with Clearview, giving agents the ability to match faces against social media photos, news images, and anything else scraped from the web [3].
License Plate Readers
ICE spent $5 million on a Thomson Reuters subscription (May 2025) for license plate reader data "to enhance investigations for potential arrest, seizure and forfeiture."
DHS personnel have direct access to some ALPR networks. Relationships with local law enforcement expand their reach further. Agent D.R. testified about running license plates to "tie a vehicle to the potential target" during an October operation in Woodburn, Oregon.
Related: The Free Surveillance Pipeline: Local Police to ICE
Cell Phone Tracking
Tools that extract location data without warrants. This is the PenLink capability that prompted over 70 Democratic Congress members to request an Inspector General investigation in March 2026 [4].
The Data-Sharing Agreements
ICE doesn't collect all this data directly. It has arrangements to access information from agencies you'd never expect.
| Source | Data Type | What ICE Gets |
|---|---|---|
| Health & Human Services | Medicaid records | Names, dates of birth, home addresses of undocumented immigrants in Medicaid data |
| Internal Revenue Service | Tax data | Address information. A federal judge found in February 2026 that the IRS violated federal tax law by disclosing addresses for 42,000+ individuals to ICE [5] |
| Thomson Reuters | License plate data | $5 million subscription for ALPR data to support arrests, seizures, and forfeitures |
| Nlets | DMV records | Nonprofit facilitating law enforcement data sharing. Democratic lawmakers urged governors to restrict ICE access |
Here's the problem: attorney Stephen Manning put it bluntly: "They're using data and they're aggregating data that they would otherwise need a warrant for...bypassing the Fourth Amendment."
Some states are cutting off Nlets access. But ICE can still get DMV data through data brokers like LexisNexis. Emily Tucker at Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy & Technology noted: "If states cut off their access through Nlets, they can go to data brokers."
Related: IRS Violated Tax Law 42,695 Times Sharing Data With ICE
What Surveillance Looks Like on the Ground
NPR collected dozens of accounts from people who've experienced ICE surveillance firsthand. The patterns are consistent.
Emily (Minneapolis)
Followed an ICE vehicle. Agents photographed her and her car. Then an agent walked up to her window, addressed her by name, and recited her home address. She described it as a clear intimidation tactic.
Elle (Minneapolis)
ICE agents addressed her by her wife's name. The car was registered to her spouse. Officers photographed her and the vehicle, pounded on her car window. Immigration officers later banged on her home door.
Colleen Fagan (Portland, Maine)
Recorded federal agents photographing her face and license plate. An agent told her they had a "database" and labeled her a "domestic terrorist." She joined a class action lawsuit alleging First Amendment violations [6].
Olga Fedorova (Minneapolis, photojournalist)
Observed agents using Mobile Fortify to scan faces during operations. She noted the app was used predominantly on individuals appearing Hispanic.
The Minnesota ACLU lawsuit (Tincher v. Noem) has over 30 sworn statements documenting these encounters. The government denies constitutional violations.
Related: Minnesota AG Lawsuit Against DHS
Targeting Critics With Administrative Subpoenas
ICE isn't just surveilling immigrants. It's going after American citizens who criticize the agency online.
The weapon: administrative subpoenas. These can be issued to tech companies without a judge or grand jury. Historically reserved for serious crimes, they're now being used to unmask anonymous critics.
Sherman Austin (Long Beach, California)
Runs the @stopicenet Instagram account, posting about ICE activity. In September 2025, Meta notified him that DHS sought his data. The subpoena cited "Officer Safety/Doxing" as justification.
Austin challenged it in federal court. He won. The subpoena was blocked [7].
Anonymous user "J. Doe"
Received a subpoena for collaborating on a public post that identified an ICE agent. They wrote: "When I imagine what could happen to me and my family if my identity is released to the government, it terrifies me."
The subpoena was withdrawn after a court challenge.
ACLU attorney Steve Loney identified a pattern: "As soon as people become vocal critics...they get an email from their social media company."
Every subpoena challenged in court has been withdrawn. The ACLU reports DHS has a 0% success rate when people fight back. But most people don't have lawyers, or know they can fight.
Global Entry Revocations
Two Instagram users with hundreds of thousands of followers reported their Global Entry status was revoked after posting content critical of ICE. The timing is suspicious.
Related: DHS Subpoenas: How Voluntary Compliance Exposes Critics
The Numbers
- 1 in 3 Americans: Had their driver's license photos scanned by ICE (as of 2022)
- 3 of 4 American adults: Locatable by ICE through utility records (as of 2022)
- 42,000+: Individuals whose IRS addresses were improperly shared with ICE
- $5 million: ICE's Thomson Reuters subscription for license plate data
- 70+ lawmakers: Signed letter requesting DHS Inspector General investigation
- 0%: DHS success rate when subpoenas are challenged in court
What DHS Says
The official line: "DHS will not reveal law enforcement methods or tactics."
On Mobile Fortify specifically, DHS claims it operates with "deliberately high matching threshold," though documented misidentifications contradict this.
ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons denied the existence of a protester database during Congressional testimony [8]. The Minnesota lawsuit suggests otherwise.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has repeatedly warned that sharing officer information constitutes criminal doxing. The subpoenas targeting critics who post photos of federal agents reflect that position.
What the Experts Say
Nathan Wessler, ACLU Speech Privacy & Technology Project:
"Part of what's so pernicious about it is that people don't know what's going on...incredibly corrosive in what is supposed to be a free and open society."
ACLU attorney:
"The ability to criticize the government anonymously is baked into our First Amendment rights."
Attorney Stephen Manning:
"They're using data and they're aggregating data that they would otherwise need a warrant for...bypassing the Fourth Amendment."
What You Can Do
- Assume surveillance: If you're at a protest, assume you're being photographed and your plates are being run
- Know your rights: Administrative subpoenas can be challenged. If you get a data request notification from a tech company, consult an attorney
- Use privacy tools: Cover your license plate at protests. Use anonymous accounts for activism. Don't tie your real identity to criticism
- Support legal challenges: The ACLU and other organizations are fighting these subpoenas. They've won every case they've challenged
- Contact your representatives: The March 5 PenLink deadline is today. Ask your representatives to hold DHS accountable
The Bigger Picture
We've been covering these tools piece by piece: PenLink contracts, facial recognition tools, data broker purchases.
NPR connected the dots. ICE built a surveillance apparatus that reaches into every aspect of American life: your license plate, your face, your social media, your Medicaid data, your tax records, your DMV records, your utility bills.
No warrants. No oversight. And if you criticize them publicly, they'll try to find out who you are.
The question isn't whether this capability exists. It's documented. The question is what we're going to do about it.
Sources
[1] NPR - ICE has spun a massive surveillance web. We talked to people caught in it
[2] WLRN - NPR Investigation Syndication
[3] State of Surveillance - CBP Clearview AI Contract
[4] The Register - 70 US lawmakers demand probe into ICE's data purchases
[5] State of Surveillance - IRS 42,695 Violations
[6] State of Surveillance - DHS "Domestic Terrorist" Lawsuit
[7] State of Surveillance - DHS Subpoenas and Voluntary Compliance
[8] State of Surveillance - ICE Director Denies Tracking Database
Published: March 5, 2026