Palantir Press Conference - 5/7/2026

追加: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]All right, thank you all for coming today. It's an honor to be surrounded by so many incredible dedicated activists and lawyers and immigration advocates here. We have the New York Immigration Coalition Lovely is here from there. We have New Sanctuary Coalition Robbie Rothberg.

[00:00:22]Make the Road States Sarah is here.

[00:00:25]Unlocal Tonia is here.

[00:00:28]Nile Ben is here. These are the people that we have been working incredibly closely with over the past year to push back on Donald Trump's deportation dragnet. And that is exactly what it is.

[00:00:42]It is not a policy that is going after the worst of the worst. In fact, it is the exact opposite. It is going after people who are seeking refuge here, seeking the American dream, and who are pursuing lawful pathways and showing up at their court appearances, showing up at their check-ins, and getting arrested and without due process in many cases getting deported. That was just over a year ago when I walked into my district office in Manhattan at 290 Broadway and I saw in the lobby unidentified plainclothes masked agents arresting people who were coming out of the courtroom.

[00:01:29]They did not identify themselves. In some cases they were aggressive. And I thought to myself, what on earth is going on here? Why are there masked agents? I worked for 10 years as a federal prosecutor with criminal law enforcement agents, not civil enforcement agents, and they never wore masks and nor is it American to wear masks to hide your identity if you are law enforcement. But yet they were doing that and they have done that every single day since.

[00:01:59]And in response to that, uh we have along with these advocates built an immigration triage center in our Manhattan office, where these folks, many of whom uh are advocating for the immigrants, representing the immigrants, and will bring them to our office, where there's wraparound services to make sure the families are okay after their loved one is arrested, make sure that they have legal representation both on the immigration side and on the federal habeas side. And we've been proud to be able to release uh 32 of the detainees uh that have come through our system.

[00:02:38]But that is a small percentage of the hundreds of thousands who have been arrested. Many many have been arrested using technologies and advanced mass surveillance and spyware that is being provided to the Department of Homeland Security by Palantir.

[00:02:59]Palantir Technologies, which is right here behind me in Lower Manhattan.

[00:03:09]Last month, I sent a letter along with uh Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez and Senator Ron Wyden to Palantir demanding answers at I'm sorry, to the Department of Homeland Security demanding answers about what [screaming] technologies Palantir and other mass surveillance AI corporations are providing for the Department of Homeland Security [screaming] to use to use for their deportation dragnet.

[00:03:40]We have learned a lot from the media. We have learned nothing in response to this letter. But what we do know What we do know is that Palantir has been [screaming] steadily increasing their contracts with the Department of Homeland Security. It started It started with ICE with a system called Immigration OS.

[00:04:14]Now, this program according to ICE, according to Palantir does several things, but it includes using AI to identify criminal histories, other removable uh immigrants, but also whether there are any quote international organized crime connections or gang connections.

[00:04:40]Now, let me tell you something.

[00:04:43]There is no possible way that AI can do an effective job of determining whether someone is actually affiliated with a gang. And yet, we are hearing over and over and over from uh the Department of Homeland Security themselves, I've heard it from ICE agents on the ground that people who they are arresting are allegedly associated with gangs uh in this database.

[00:05:15]What kind of protocols are there? What kind of protections are there? What kind of privacy protections are there? What kind of follow-up is there? What on earth are they doing to ensure that the people they are arresting ostensibly because of their gang association are actually associated? And we know from people like Kilmar Brugu Garcia and others that it's fanciful, that it's based on uncredited, uncorroborated allegations that have never been vetted, have never been established, have never been found by a court. But that's what Palantir has been doing now for well over a year.

[00:05:57]And now it gets worse. They have implemented a system called Elite, which provides a map interface with targets that they can use effectively like a Google Maps for ICE to use to try to find uh those that they want to arrest.

[00:06:19]Now, once again, what is the basis of this? What is the validity of this information? There has been court testimony from an ICE agent that they will often get a feedback saying there's this is 100% accurate and it turns out to be false. What vetting is there?

[00:06:41]What what kind of quality control is there? We don't know. We ask those questions and we have not heard and we want answers.

[00:06:49]But what are they doing with US citizens as well?

[00:06:53]If they are using facial recognition technology or other AI technology, why how do we know they're only using that against people that they are looking for?

[00:07:04]Why are do we how do we know they're not using that against American citizens?

[00:07:09]And in fact, we saw evidence in Minneapolis of an ICE officer going up to an American citizen with a phone saying that you will now be in our database.

[00:07:23]For a long time, Department of Homeland Security denied that there was a database.

[00:07:29]But more recently, before he left, acting director of ICE, Todd Lyons, did acknowledge that there was the use of a $2 million contract to create such a database.

[00:07:44]Now, I go through all of this because this is the kind of dragnet that you would see in a surveillance state, in an authoritarian fascist regime where you have masked officers using private data that has been collected by the government for nefarious purposes, for illegal purposes without any quality control, without any oversight.

[00:08:14]That's what's going on, and that is being enabled by Palantir, which just signed a renewed in February, a much larger contract that is not only with ICE, but is now expanding to the rest of the Homeland Security Department.

[00:08:31]This company is complicit in everything that this administration is doing to target and arrest our friends and neighbors, immigrants coming here seeking a better life, seeking refuge in the greatest country on Earth, the beacon of democracy.

[00:08:50]And they are being snatched from their families, snatched from courthouses, and taken away without due process, indefinitely detained in terrible conditions.

[00:09:02]It is simply not okay, and it is certainly not okay that there are American companies such as Palantir who are trying and successfully helping ICE do this unlawful, illegal deportation dragnet.

[00:09:20]So, we are here to both call on answers, call for answers. We are here to call for answers from the Department of Homeland Security. And Secretary Mullen, I urge you to respond to our letter, to respond to the American people, so that there's transparency about what kind of privacy information is being gathered by AI. What kind of information is ICE using about Americans personal identification and immigrants personal identification? That what kind of quality control is there? How do we know that what you are doing is complying with the law if you do not provide any information?

[00:10:03]So we're here together because this is a coalition that we have formed over the last year to fight back in every way possible.

[00:10:12]And we will fight back through our triage center. We will fight back through advocacy. We will fight back through litigation.

[00:10:21]And we will fight back by making our voices heard. And that's why we're here today because no corporation in America should be facilitating, should be complicit in this administration's lawful deportation dragnet.

[00:10:38]So I'm now going to turn it over uh to Lovely Trejo who is the chief of staff for the New York Immigration Coalition uh that has really been leading the effort in pushing back on this administration. Lovely.

[00:10:58]My name is Lovely Trejo. I'm the chief of staff at the New York Immigration Coalition and I want to thank uh Congressman uh Goldman's leadership in finding transparency in Palantir's uh operations in DHS.

[00:11:15]So what we are witnessing right now is the deliberate expansion of a detention and deportation machine with fewer safeguards, less oversight, and more surveillance power than ever.

[00:11:28]At this very moment, the Trump administration is expanding immigration detention infrastructure and deepening ICE's partnership with Palantir.

[00:11:38]It has moved to dismantle the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman, one of the few independent oversight bodies responsible for monitoring abuses inside detention centers.

[00:11:53]Reports show DHS effectively shut down or hollowed out the office earlier this year alongside other civil rights oversight entities, arguing that these offices were creating enforcement roadblocks.

[00:12:08]And let's be clear about what that means. The administration is removing accountability. At the same time, it is dramatically increasing the government's capacity to surveil, detain, and deport immigrant communities.

[00:12:24]We are also seeing that immigrant that community members protesting ICE's response and violence are being surveilled as well, sending a chilling message about the First Amendment right and what it means to exercise it in the United States.

[00:12:41]As oversight disappears, Palantir's role inside DHS and ICE continues to grow.

[00:12:49]ICE has awarded Palantir tens of millions of dollars >> [snorts] >> to build and expand Immigration OS, an AI-powered surveillance and case management platform designed to help identify, track, and deport immigrants using massive pools of government data.

[00:13:13]This is the convergence of two very dangerous trends.

[00:13:18]More detention, less accountability.

[00:13:21]More surveillance, less transparency.

[00:13:25]Communities of color are already disproportionately targeted by over-policing, racial profiling, and aggressive immigration enforcement. And now, those same communities are facing the expansion of AI-driven enforcement systems, while the watchdogs meant to investigate abuse and neglect and civil rights violations are being dismantled.

[00:13:49]That is not public safety.

[00:13:52]When people in detention lose independent oversight, it becomes easier to hide reports of medical neglect and abuse and retaliation and unsafe conditions.

[00:14:04]This is unchecked surveillance and enforcement infrastructure expanding behind closed doors. Thank you.

[00:14:12]Woo.

[00:14:14]Thank you very much, Lovely.

[00:14:16]Uh excellent words, really. Really spot-on.

[00:14:19]And now, I want to introduce my friend uh Ravi Ragbir, who is the executive director of New Sanctuary Coalition, a tremendous and long-time immigration advocate. Ravi. Thank you.

[00:14:30]Thank you, Congressman. Um I'm Ravi Ragbir. I'm the executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition.

[00:14:37]And you heard about you heard from Lovely the the about surveillance that's um that is being created by this administration using Palantir as as their as their tool. All right. When we talk about surveillance, it means that you are worried uh what you're worried about where you go, what you do, and who you do it with, and how you how your community. So, imagine [snorts] living your life. We have lived our lives as immigrants in this in this city, in this country, not knowing what is going to happen tomorrow. But not only not what is happening tomorrow because we are immigrants or we may be undocumented, but because we will put our families' lives in danger, we'll put our communities in danger because we are being monitored everywhere. So, what we do What has happened recently in the city of New York, um HHS HHS, Health and Human Services, gave a contract to Palantir to collect their data and work with it.

[00:15:40]Right? This year they actually did not renew that contract. Why is Health and Human Services Why is the data given to Palantir to monitor, to collect our data, and use it? It is about connecting those dots. Palantir connects the dots in social media, but in in our activities, and they are If they want to come after me, it is not myself alone they are using or to look for, but who I talk to, my social media, who is my where I go to, who I'm working with, where I connect to.

[00:16:15]Now, this this sound is serious, and it is, and it is part of the problem. But, you know, I have to say the congressman is kind of naive.

[00:16:24]I'm sorry.

[00:16:25]>> [laughter] >> Right? Because he thinks there are protocols in place, place, right? To protect people. This administration has already proven they don't want protocols. They don't want to have oversight.

[00:16:38]So, that they can do whatever they want with all with impunity, and whatever harm is there, they don't care.

[00:16:46]So, it is not about asking DHS for protocols. [snorts] It is for Congress now to take their power, for you to take your power, and insist and stop the travesty that we have seen.

[00:16:59]Now, we should go one step further. The CEO of of Palantir, Alex Karp, you know what his words were?

[00:17:07]His words were, "We are here to disrupt, and sometimes target our enemies, and even to kill them."

[00:17:15]He used the word kill our enemies.

[00:17:18]And who are their enemies? People who speak out against them. So, am I going to be an enemy now? Yes. Is the congressman going to be an enemy? Of course. And it's not It's not only about uh the physical killing, but it's about destroy destroying people's lives and destroying their reputation. And not did they did he um uh walk away from that? No. He They They published a 2026 manifesto just February talking about the elitism of the technocrats.

[00:17:49]Talking about how they are they uh some communities are better than.

[00:17:54]Right? It is reminiscent of what happened in 1940s where people were targeted because they were the other and therefore they would be deporting many of those communities, putting them in detention. We see that happening. Over 60,000 people in detention right now.

[00:18:12]And they want to increase that.

[00:18:13]We have seen where this wants to go. We have to stop them. So, I'm urging everyone. This is not a moment where we have to sit back and hope for the best.

[00:18:22]This is a moment where we have to stop an organization, a company like Palantir, who is deliberately looking out targeting us because we speak out about against them. Thank you.

[00:18:34]Thank you.

[00:18:35]Thank you very much, Ravi. Now, I want to turn it over to Sara Cullinane, the deputy director of Make the Road States.

[00:18:42]Uh Make the Road has been such a great partner in this uh fight and will continue to be. Sara.

[00:18:51]Good afternoon. My name is Sara Cullinane and I'm the deputy director of Make the Road States. Um we represent 70,000 immigrant and working-class members across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Nevada.

[00:19:03]And we're here today because every morning when our members leave their homes, they have to ask the question, will they see their children again? Will they be ripped from their families while they drop their kids at school, go to work, go to church to pray?

[00:19:17]And we know one thing is true.

[00:19:20]The Trump administration cannot reach its goal of deporting a million people, of ripping apart a million families without this company, Palantir Technologies, right behind us. So, right here in New York City, we have a massive corporation, a spy tech surveillance corporation that is becoming the backbone of ICE. They are providing the technology, as the congressman mentioned, that is giving ICE the opportunity to track, abduct, surveil, deport, disappear our community members. For example, ELITE, the app ELITE, which is reportedly built by by Palantir, provides a Google Maps-like function for ICE officers. Could you imagine an ICE officer opening their phone to see a map that gives ratings of each neighborhood to find out where immigrants are, how to target their raids. This is the money that our taxpayer dollars are going to fund.

[00:20:18]Palantir right here is making billions off of taxpayers. They have now a $1 billion purchase order open with DHS to provide tools for deportation, for mass surveillance. That's a billion dollars that could be going to our healthcare.

[00:20:35]We're seeing cuts in Medicaid, we're seeing cuts in food assistance, cuts to our schools, to our families. And where's that money going? To line the pockets of billionaires like Alex Karp, like the chairman of the board and founder Peter Thiel. These are far-right billionaires that are intent on building a surveillance state, an algorithmic surveillance state that will separate our families.

[00:21:01]And one thing is true, as well. We know that Palantir today is beta testing surveillance on immigrants, but the end game is to build a surveillance state that targets all of us. No one will be left behind. Everyone can be caught up in this dragnet. US citizens, immigrants, activists, anyone can be subject to surveillance.

[00:21:26]So, our message today is to get this billionaire corporation out of our government and to make sure that our families have access to the health care, to the schools, to the services they need and not a single penny more to billionaire tech companies like Palantir to separate our families.

[00:21:50]Palantir Technologies Thank you so much, Congressman. Thank you so much to the advocates. Um, thank you.

[00:22:14]Thank you, Sarah.

[00:22:16]Uh, now I want to bring up Tania Mattos, who's the executive director of UnLocal.

[00:22:28]Buenas tardes. Good afternoon. My name is Tania Mattos and I'm the executive director of UnLocal and a long time immigrant organizer.

[00:22:38]What's happening right now is the federal government is building a massive surveillance state and they are using our communities as the testing ground. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have deployed facial recognition technology, social media monitoring tools, cell tracking devices, and data aggregation platforms built by Palantir.

[00:23:06]They are vacuuming up the personal information of people right across from this country, but right here, too, in New York, in Queens, in the Bronx, in Brooklyn, in the neighborhoods where our families live, where our neighbors live, and have built their lives, and have asked for nothing more than to be left alone in peace and build their lives here.

[00:23:29]And here is what they don't want us to know. This is not just about undocumented immigrants.

[00:23:35]This surveillance net is catching US citizens, journalists, people who show up to to protest against a fascist government.

[00:23:46]People who pulled out their phones to record an arrest, people doing exactly what the Constitution says they have the right to do.

[00:23:53]And they are being watched, tracked, and cataloged for it. This is not This is not law enforcement, and this is not immigration policy. This is the government afraid of its own people and having to feel like they have to surveil us.

[00:24:11]Today, and we refuse to accept it.

[00:24:13]Today, we are demanding that Palantir and DHS answer for what they have built.

[00:24:20]Show us every contract with surveillance companies. Show us every surveillance tool they have deployed.

[00:24:29]Tell us the data that you have collected on protesters like myself, on journalists, and on community members.

[00:24:36]New York's immigrant communities have already been through enough, as we know.

[00:24:41]They have watched neighbors get picked up, watched parents get separated from children, and they have lived in fear as a daily reality. And now we are learning that on top of that, they have been surveilled.

[00:24:53]Their faces have been scanned, and their social medias have been monitored and their phones have been tracked. This has to stop. Mass surveillance is not immigration policy. It is the architecture of authoritarianism.

[00:25:09]And when it's pointed at people for protesting in the street and existing, that is not keeping us safe. That is keeping us silent. And we but we will not be silent.

[00:25:22]Thank you to Congressman Goldman for stepping up and holding organizations like Palantir accountable.

[00:25:30]And we will not rest until there is full transparency, full accountability, and the end to a surveillance state being built in the shadows and have been being built for the last couple years.

[00:25:42]Enough is enough. Thank you.

[00:25:45]And I'll say it in Spanish.

[00:25:55]People that um uh that surveillance estamos New York I must immigrantes.

[00:26:42]Thank you very much, Tania.

[00:26:43]Uh our last speaker is uh going to is going to be someone who mostly works out of our uh district office, uh Ben Riemer, the senior coordinating attorney with NYLAG.

[00:27:01]Good afternoon.

[00:27:03]As the Congressman mentioned, my name is Benjamin Rummy. I'm a senior coordinating attorney with the New York Legal Assistance Group's Immigrant Protection Unit.

[00:27:10]For the past year, I've spent nearly every day inside of our immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, advocating for immigrant New Yorkers and bearing witness to the truly horrific and often violent courthouse arrest and violations of due process that result from ICE's immigration dragnet.

[00:27:30]Us at the New York Legal Assistance Group have a long history of fighting for our immigrant community here in New York City.

[00:27:36]And during this current administration and the heavy surge in enforcement, including through the use of technology, we've had to redouble our efforts.

[00:27:47]As civil legal advocates and as New Yorkers, we should all be concerned that the federal government is weaponizing Palantir against immigrant New Yorkers, against our immigrant communities, and increasing the surveillance state to target everyone, both immigrants and United States citizens.

[00:28:06]Even though this is in the context of immigration, we have to remember the fundamental constitutional issues that are at stake here.

[00:28:13]When an immigrant's rights are violated, all of our constitutional, our most fundamental rights are violated.

[00:28:20]Palantir ShadowTech is deeply unaccountable to oversight and should concern everyone who believes in a fundamental right to privacy.

[00:28:29]Moreover, the federal government using this tech to hunt people and deport them erodes our fundamental trust in due process and signals a large government overreach and lack of basic accountability.

[00:28:43]What is happening to immigrants is already terrifying enough without the government weaponizing Palantir's dangerous technology.

[00:28:51]For New Yorkers to truly be safe, we must protect our immigrant neighbors and defend civil liberties from governmental and technocratic overreach.

[00:29:00]Thank you.

[00:29:02]Thank you very much, Ben.

[00:29:04]Um okay, we'll take some uh official side uh questions.

[00:29:12]So shout them out. Anyone got questions?

[00:29:15]I told Ben we're going to try to pull him to the side after the press conference. Sure.

[00:29:20]All right. But the changes though for your time with the DHS, have you seen any sort of differences in the models?

[00:29:25]It's on this one.

[00:29:28]Um I think we we got we have gotten more responses a little bit uh faster, but unfortunately, we have not gotten a response to this letter.

[00:29:42]Uh and this is uh incredibly important.

[00:29:45]Uh there's so much unknown about what DHS and ICE are doing with these technologies.

[00:29:54]Um and there's so much unknown about uh what the process is to verify and vet that information. And so uh this is absolutely essential information that Congress must receive uh in order to be able to conduct proper oversight of congressional funds that are being used through taxpayer money uh for these technological purchases.

[00:30:23]Any other questions?

[00:30:25]All right. All right. Thank you.