cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/11191434
Thomson Reuters, the media company which is also a data broker, has long provided underlying personal data for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tools, according to documents obtained by 404 Media and sources. There are also indications its data is now part of the Palantir system ICE uses to find which neighborhoods to target.
The findings draw a clearer line between Thomson Reuters’ data business—which can involve selling names, addresses, car registration information, Social Security numbers, and details on someone’s ethnicity under the brand name CLEAR—and the specific tools ICE is ingesting the data into. The news also comes after Thomson Reuters employees sent leadership a signed letter expressing their unease with the company’s ICE and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contracts, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported last month.
“If these allegations are true, they cut directly against Thomson Reuters’ claims that its products and services are limited to fighting serious crime and are not facilitating deportations,” Emma Pullman, head of shareholder engagement and responsible investment for the B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU), told 404 Media. BCGEU is a minority shareholder in Thomson Reuters and has recently engaged the company concerning its work with ICE, BCGEU said.
💡Do you work at Thomson Reuters, Palantir, or DHS? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404 or send me an email at joseph@404media.co.
An internal Palantir wiki 404 Media obtained explained Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a part of ICE that used to be focused on criminal investigations but has now shifted to immigration enforcement, used a Palantir-built system called FALCON before moving onto an HSI internal tool. A former Palantir employee has since told 404 Media Thomson Reuters’ CLEAR specifically was used in that FALCON system.
In 2025 Palantir said it became a “more mature partner to ICE” when the company started work on other systems during Trump’s mass deportation effort. That included a tool called Enhanced Leads Identification & Targeting for Enforcement, or ELITE, 404 Media revealed in January. ELITE populates a map with potential deportation targets, brings up a dossier on each person, and provides a “confidence score” on the person’s current address. An ICE official testified about using the tool before officials detained more than 30 people which lawyers have described as a “dragnet.”
Internal ICE material showed ELITE got these addresses from various sources, including government agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The material also said a source of the addresses was “CLEAR.”
Two Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources believe the material refers to Thomson Reuters’ CLEAR. “I have to think it’s the same CLEAR,” one said. 404 Media granted several sources in this story anonymity as they weren’t permitted to speak to the press about these topics.
Thomson Reuters data is also mentioned in documentation about Mobile Companion, an app made by Motorola for querying license plate scans. ICE recently sent a message to all ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) staff, who are focused on deportations specifically, about the tool, 404 Media previously reported. The material sent to ICE said users can further enhance their investigations by combining Motorola’s license plate reader network with Thomson Reuters’ data. “Thomson Reuters CLEAR combines comprehensive public and proprietary data with nationwide license plate data from Motorola Solutions’ secure shared data network to help take vehicle-involved investigations to a more precise level,” the material said.
404 Media made multiple attempts to get Thomson Reuters to comment for this story. Originally, Thomson Reuters said it would provide information “on background” over email, but then noted the background information would be material “you can use to inform your article but not attribute to Thomson Reuters.” 404 Media explained that, like many publications, “on background” to us means we could paraphrase the information and attribute it to the company. Thomson Reuters then said, “We do not agree with your definition of ‘on background’ and therefore are unable to address the misstatements we believe you may make in your story” and ultimately refused to comment.
In procurement documents available online, DHS says “CLEAR is vital to the mission-essential, time sensitive investigative work of several DHS Components as it makes it easier to locate people, assets, businesses, affiliations, and other critical facts.”
“Without this data, DHS would not be able to identify targets associated with criminal enterprise, terrorism, and immigration fraud as rapidly,” the documents add.
Those documents show CLEAR’s data can include a person’s name, address, date of birth, phone records, driver license, motor vehicle registrations, Social Security number, marital status, household information such as their household members, and details on their public social media.
In March the Minnesota Star Tribune reported it had spoken to half a dozen Thomson Reuters employees mostly based in Eagan, home to one of the company’s largest U.S. offices, and where many of the employees’ jobs relate to CLEAR. “People are worried about the role their job has played in what has happened,” one employee reportedly said, referring to Operation Metro Surge, the DHS operation focused on Minnesota in which officials killed Renée Good and Alex Pretti. The outlet reported around 180 workers sent Thomson Reuters leadership a letter expressing their unease and asking about the company’s supervision of its DHS and ICE contracts. The New York Times later reported more than 200 employees had signed the letter.
The Minnesota Star Tribune also quoted an internal Thomson Reuters message from Kevin Appold, the company’s vice president for projects and U.S. public records. “We prohibit customers from using CLEAR to identify or locate undocumented immigrants who have not committed crimes,” it said.
404 MediaJoseph Cox
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