Money Grab/Give government contracts to family and donors
ICE awards Palantir a sole-source deportation deal
On April 11, 2025, a federal spending database recorded a $29,898,236 modification to Palantir’s existing ICE contract for an “Immigration Lifecycle Operating System,” or ImmigrationOS. No other company was invited to compete.
What happened
In 2022 ICE hired Palantir, under a contract worth about $17 million, to work on its case-management system. On April 11, 2025, a federal spending database recorded a modification adding $29,898,236 to that contract for an “Immigration Lifecycle Operating System,” or ImmigrationOS. Business Insider and 404 Media reported it in mid-April. Palantir was to deliver a prototype by September 25, 2025, with work running through September 2027.
ImmigrationOS is a platform to identify, track and prioritize immigrants for removal and to give ICE “near real-time visibility” into people leaving the country on their own. The order was sole-source: no other company was invited to compete. ICE justified the urgency by citing Trump’s executive orders on immigration, and listed visa overstays as a priority alongside violent criminals and members of transnational criminal organizations.
Palantir was co-founded by Peter Thiel, a Trump donor, and its federal awards since January 2025 have been reported in the hundreds of millions. In June 2025 the Project On Government Oversight reported that Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff who directs deportation policy, had disclosed a Palantir stake worth $100,001 to $250,000, held in one of his children’s accounts. The White House said he had agreed to recuse from matters affecting it.
Who benefited
Palantir and its shareholders, including Peter Thiel, gained a $29.9 million order without competing for it. Stephen Miller’s household held a stake in a contractor whose work his policies feed, though the White House says he recuses.
Who wanted something
Palantir already held a $17 million ICE contract and gained a larger role in immigration enforcement without a competing bid. ICE told the spending database it needed the system urgently to carry out the president’s executive orders.
Who lost out
Taxpayers paid $29.9 million for software with no competing bid that might have produced a lower price or a better product. Rival vendors never got the chance to bid. The system itself exists to target people for removal.
Why it matters
Federal rules favor competition because no-bid deals invite favoritism. This one went to a company co-founded by a Trump donor, and the adviser steering the policy it serves disclosed a financial stake in it. No money went to the Trump family. The $29.9 million is a public cost.
Sources American Immigration CouncilBusiness Insider (via Yahoo)OrangeSlices (federal award listing) (primary)Project On Government Oversight