ICE’s Spyware Deployment Threatens Privacy of Black and Brown Communities

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is doubling down on controversial spyware technology that threatens the privacy and civil liberties of Black and brown communities across the United States. Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, recently confirmed in a letter to Congress that the agency, through Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), is using spyware capable of intercepting encrypted communications on platforms such as WhatsApp. Officially, ICE claims the tools target fentanyl traffickers and foreign terrorist organizations, but the implications for innocent civilians are alarming.

The spyware in question, known as Graphite, is developed by Israeli company Paragon Solutions and employs “zero click” technology to access private messages without user interaction. This technology’s deployment raises red flags given ICE’s documented history of overreach and abuse during the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaigns. Lawmakers and civil rights advocates fear ICE will exploit this powerful surveillance tool to monitor immigrants, journalists, organizers, and others who challenge government policies.

Representative Summer Lee (D-PA), among others, has openly criticized ICE’s secretive use of invasive spyware inside U.S. borders, highlighting the disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities of color. “The people most at risk... deserve more than secrecy and deflection from an agency with a long record of overreach and abuse,” Lee told NPR.

The contract for Graphite was initially signed at the end of the Biden administration but was paused due to an executive order barring commercial spyware that poses national security risks or could be misused by foreign governments. The Trump administration revived the contract last fall, signaling a return to hardline surveillance tactics.

Graphite is just one piece of a broader surveillance arsenal ICE is deploying. Other technologies include facial recognition apps used in the field to identify individuals and determine their immigration status, as well as iris-scanning tools. These invasive methods are part of a broader strategy to enforce mass deportations, a hallmark of Trump-era immigration policy.

Despite assurances from Lyons that Graphite’s use will comply with constitutional safeguards and involve legal oversight, experts remain deeply skeptical. Cooper Quintin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation warns that ICE’s use of spyware without robust judicial oversight risks infringing on constitutionally protected activities, including protests and free speech.

“The biggest concern now is that Lyons’ response doesn’t rule out ICE using an administrative subpoena to deploy this malware against people living in the United States as part of their ideological battle against constitutionally protected protest,” Quintin said.

In a country grappling with escalating authoritarian tactics, ICE’s spyware deployment is a stark reminder that surveillance tools wielded under the guise of national security often end up targeting marginalized communities and dissenting voices. Without transparency and stringent oversight, this technology threatens to deepen systemic abuses and erode fundamental rights.