Artificial Intelligence Giants Profit from Deporting Americans: Inside Palantir and Capgemini’s $88 Million ICE Machine: Should Americans Boycott Them?

Introduction

What Is Happening and Why You Should Care

Imagine if a company could look at 200 million photos and instantly recognize your face from a smartphone. Imagine if another company could find your home address by looking at your medical records, where you shop, and what phone number you use. This is not science fiction. This is what is happening right now in the United States in 2026.

Two main companies are doing this work for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The 1st company is called Palantir. The 2nd company is called Capgemini. Together, they received more than $88 million from the U.S. government to build computer systems that find, track, and capture people for deportation.

Why Are These Companies Doing This?

Palantir received a $30 million contract in April 2025 to build something called "ImmigrationOS." Think of it like a special computer system.

This system collects information from many different government databases and puts it all together in 1 place. It can show where a person lives, where they work, and whether they are here legally. The system is designed to help ICE agents find people to deport.

Capgemini got a different kind of contract. In December 2025, they agreed to help ICE find people by using a method called "skip tracing."

What is skip tracing? It is a way of using data to find someone whose location you do not know.

Skip tracing companies use information like phone numbers, addresses from bills, job records, and credit reports to find people.

Capgemini agreed to do this work for $4.8 million. But the contract could grow to more than $365 million if they successfully find more people.

Here Is How These Systems Work in Real Life

Let's say a person named Carlos is in the United States without permission. The government wants to deport him. Here is how the new systems would find him:

1st, an ICE agent would use an app called Mobile Fortify. This app uses facial recognition. The agent points a smartphone at Carlos on the street and takes his photo.

The app compares his face against 200 million faces in government databases. Within seconds, it identifies him and shows his name, birthdate, and immigration status.

2nd, if the agent does not see Carlos in person, they use a system called ELITE. This is Palantir's system. ELITE creates a map showing neighborhoods where many people like Carlos might live. It gives each person a "confidence score."

This number tells the government how confident they are that Carlos lives at a certain address. The system uses information from hospitals, Medicaid (health insurance for poor people), and other government agencies.

3rd, Capgemini's skip tracing would help narrow the search. They would use phone records, bank records, and where Carlos worked before. Within days, they would have narrowed down exactly where Carlos lives.

The Real Problem: It Is Causing Harm to Real People

These systems are supposed to find only people who are in the United States illegally. But they are finding U.S. citizens too.

In Minneapolis in January 2026, federal agents using Mobile Fortify arrested a woman by mistake.

The app identified her twice as someone else. Even though the app said it was wrong, the woman was still held and questioned.

In California, the Supreme Court of the United States allowed ICE to stop people based only on how they look.

They can stop anyone who looks Latino. They can stop people for speaking Spanish. They can stop people who work as farm workers or restaurant workers.

This is racial profiling. It is treating people differently because of their race or ethnicity.

A nurse named Alex Pretti was killed by federal agents in Minneapolis in January 2026. She was protesting against these immigration policies. This death showed Americans how serious this situation is.

The Companies Making Money

Here is where it gets worse. Capgemini's contract gives them bonus payments for every person they help find and deport.

They can make up to $365 million in bonus payments. This means the more people they find, the more money they make.

When you pay companies money based on how many people they deport, you create a system where companies want to deport more people, not fewer.

In total, private companies made more than $22 billion from Trump's immigration crackdown. Palantir made more than $88 million. But it is not just about money. It is about what this means for people's freedom.

What Makes This Like History's Worst Moments

📜Historians and philosophers have compared this to the Holocaust and the Nuremberg trials.

A philosopher named Hannah Arendt studied the Holocaust and wrote about "the banality of evil." What does this mean? It means that bad things often happen not because evil people plan them, but because ordinary people do their jobs without thinking about the consequences.

Workers at Palantir are now complaining. They say, "I feel no pride in the fact that the company I work for is involved with ICE." One worker asked, "Are we really helping round up people seeking asylum?"

These workers are recognizing what Arendt talked about: thoughtlessness.

The workers are not bad people. The company executives might not be bad people.

But together, they are creating a system that hurts millions of people. This is the banality of evil in the 21st century.

Why Are Good People Remaining Silent?

Palantir says they are just providing tools.

They say, "We do not make decisions about how ICE uses these tools." But this is not true. When you build tools specifically designed to find and deport people, you are helping that mission. You cannot say you are neutral if you are helping someone hurt others.

Capgemini tried a different approach. In January 2026, when French lawmakers and workers complained, the company sold its U.S. subsidiary.

They said, "We did not know about this contract." But they had a 20-year history working with ICE. French Finance Minister Roland Lescure told Capgemini, "A corporation should be aware of the activities within its subsidiaries."

Should These Companies Be Boycotted?

Banality of evil in the 21st century

Many people are saying yes. In June 2025, 6 people were arrested protesting outside Palantir's offices in New York.

They held signs saying "Palantir powers ICE." In January 2026, 450 technology workers signed a letter calling on their companies to stop working with ICE.

Some universities asked their students not to work for Palantir. Some women's technology groups dropped Palantir as a sponsor.

The "No Tech for ICE" movement has been calling for boycotts since 2019.

They say technology companies have a choice. They can work with agencies that hurt people, or they can refuse.

Is America Cracking?

Many people are asking if American democracy is breaking. A Supreme Court that allows racial profiling. A government that uses medical records to find people.

Companies that profit from deportations. Workers at these companies feeling ashamed. This does not look like the America that many believed in.

The Constitution says the government cannot do unreasonable searches. It says all people have equal protection under the law. But in 2026, the government is doing exactly what the Constitution says it cannot do.

The question now is?

Will Americans demand change?

Will they boycott these companies?

Will they demand that their government respect the Constitution?

Or will they accept this as the new normal?

The answer to these questions will define what America becomes in the coming years.