U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tried to share voter data with Palantir, internal government documents show, in a move tied to ELITE, the map-based software Palantir built for ICE immigration enforcement operations. As of this summer, ICE was waiting for Palantir to enter the records into ELITE.
The documents reviewed by Democracy Docket say the data covered voters in Missouri, Michigan, New Mexico, Connecticut, Georgia and Kentucky. A source familiar with the matter said, “This data was not and is not integrated into ELITE,” even though a July internal report said the records were pending Palantir entry.
July reports and ELITE
The records were part of a series of reports Homeland Security Investigations made for other parts of the Department of Homeland Security. In July, HSI said the six-state data set was pending Palantir entry into ELITE, and the document said the information had been enriched by iLab.
HSI tried to share the information with Palantir before the upcoming midterms as part of DHS’s search for illegal voting by noncitizens. The nonprofit legal group Democracy Forward obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against ICE.
Peter Thiel and Palantir
Palantir was founded by Peter Thiel, who is identified as the company’s co-founder. The records place his company inside an attempt to move voter data into a system built for immigration enforcement, rather than a stand-alone election database.
Court filings also say ICE has stored dossiers on people who observe its enforcement operations in ELITE, including photos, license plate numbers and other personal information. That makes the unanswered question narrower and more specific: did Palantir actually enter the voter data into ELITE, or did the transfer stop at the internal request stage?
