ICE Expands Surveillance, Targeting Immigrants and Antifa Movements

(UNITED STATES) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has widened its surveillance powers in 2025, building a high-tech system that pulls in data from social media, other federal agencies, and new artificial intelligence tools to target immigrants and political activists. The push includes round-the-clock monitoring hubs in Vermont and California, a $30 million contract with Palantir for an AI platform called ImmigrationOS, and new law enforcement authority for USCIS as of October 6, 2025. The shift follows President Trump’s September 22, 2025 executive order labeling “Antifa” a domestic terrorist organization and a follow-on directive calling for a multi-agency approach against anti-fascist and leftist movements. The moves are already affecting student visa holders, visitors, and mixed-status families, while sparking court fights over speech, privacy, and the limits of federal power.

Technology backbone: ImmigrationOS, social media monitoring, and data sharing

ICE’s expanded system runs on three pillars.

First is Palantir’s ImmigrationOS, an AI-driven platform designed to pull together records from different federal systems into a central “data lake.” According to contract details described by stakeholders, the tool’s main tasks are to identify, track, and prioritize cases for deportation, with focus on violent crimes, gang ties, and visa overstays. The $30 million deal with Palantir ties ImmigrationOS to multiple data sources, including the Social Security Administration and the IRS, under a broader push by the administration to break down “information silos.”

Critics say this grants immigration agencies access to records tied to programs nonresidents often cannot even use, raising fairness concerns for people who may appear in those databases for reasons unrelated to immigration status.

Second is an aggressive social media operation. ICE has hired dozens of analysts for 24/7 review of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X, based at the National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Centers in Williston, Vermont, and Santa Ana, California. Analysts collect posts, comments, and messages, and feed them into AI models that flag accounts for further checks or enforcement.

Civil rights attorneys warn this can sweep in lawful speech and jokes taken out of context. They also note the use of undercover accounts to access private groups, with little public information about how the data is stored, shared, or corrected if errors arise.

Third is a change in visa screening. The State Department now asks applicants, including students, to provide social media handles through immigration forms and to keep accounts public during vetting. Some cases in early 2025 saw at least 300 visa revocations—mainly student and visitor visas—on grounds described as contrary to the national interest, including allegations of “antisemitic activity” or “terrorist sympathies.” Applicants report that even old posts can raise flags.

Anyone completing the nonimmigrant application should expect close review of online activity; the form most applicants complete is Form DS-160 Form DS-160, filed through the State Department’s official site.

Enforcement shifts: arrest quotas, USCIS authority, and social media as evidence

Inside the homeland security system, changes in who carries out arrests are as notable as the technology.

• The administration has reportedly set daily arrest quotas for ICE—aiming for up to 3,000 arrests per day, though that target has not been reached.
• While the stated focus includes people with criminal convictions, enforcement now stretches to visa overstays and those without current papers.

A major structural change arrived on October 6, 2025, when U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) gained direct law enforcement powers. USCIS Special Agents can now:

1. Carry firearms
2. Execute warrants
3. Detain and make arrests for crimes committed in their presence
4. Act during routine tasks such as fraud checks and site visits

This expands points of contact where a simple paperwork issue can quickly become a detention risk. That authority—usually linked with ICE and CBP—now sits within the benefits-processing arm that many families have long seen as administrative rather than enforcement-driven.

Social media has moved from background vetting into the center of many cases. Posts and even private messages can be collected and used as evidence in removal proceedings. Lawyers caution:

• A sarcastic comment, a share from a controversial page, or a photo at a protest may be interpreted against a person.
• There is limited transparency about the standards used or how to correct errors.

Immigrants report changing online habits—deleting posts or avoiding community groups out of fear—which advocates say chills free expression. VisaVerge.com reports that families with mixed status worry that attending public rallies or donating to activist causes could lead to immigration trouble, especially with data feeding into ImmigrationOS.

Everyday scenarios and consequences

• A graduate student on an F-1 visa may face extra questioning at the port of entry if a profile includes heated political posts.
• A DACA recipient visiting a relative across state lines may worry that license plate readers, checked against ImmigrationOS, could lead to a stop and secondary screening.
• A small business owner sponsoring a worker might face more surprise site visits, with officers now able to arrest if they believe a crime is occurring during inspection.

None of these scenarios automatically lead to removal, but the risk calculus for immigrants and their U.S. citizen family members is shifting.

Funding and scale

Funding underpins the growth. ICE’s budget has jumped sharply, with estimates ranging from $70 billion to $170 billion, including $5.9 billion marked for new technology after 2024 tax changes. For context, the FBI’s annual budget sits just over $10 billion. That gap helps explain why ICE can sign major tech contracts, hire analysts by the dozens, and stand up continuous monitoring centers.

Activists in the crosshairs, court fights, and calls for oversight

After the September 22, 2025 designation of “Antifa” as a domestic terrorist organization, the administration issued a national security memo urging a “whole-of-government” effort against anti-fascist and leftist groups.

ICE has used administrative subpoenas to seek data from Meta on accounts that publish information about immigration operations and the identities of masked agents, including pages like StopIce.net. Federal judges have paused some data transfers while a November 2025 hearing goes forward, but subpoenas alone have rattled activists who say they are engaging in speech protected by the First Amendment.

Civil liberties groups argue immigration tools are being stretched into political policing. Their concerns include:

• Administrative powers intended for civil immigration cases being used for criminal investigations involving protesters and watchdogs
• Algorithmic tools amplifying bias and sweeping up lawful activity
• Difficulty for people to correct inaccurate files

Organizations challenging practices in court include the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, the ACLU, and the Civil Liberties Defense Center. These groups argue that filming officers, publishing public records, and warning communities about enforcement are lawful actions protected by the First Amendment.

Advocates also urge independent audits of AI systems used in immigration, requesting clear rules on:

• How algorithms decide risk
• How errors are fixed
• How long the government keeps data that may include health or financial records

Without guardrails, a mistaken match could lead to wrongful arrest or deportation. VisaVerge.com finds community groups building rapid response networks to document encounters, connect families with counsel, and track mistakes stemming from automated flags.

Timeline of key dates

• September 22, 2025: Executive order labels “Antifa” a domestic terrorist organization.
• September 25, 2025: National security memo orders a multi-agency campaign against anti-fascist and leftist movements.
• October 6, 2025: USCIS receives law enforcement powers including arrest and removal authority.
• October 2025: ICE’s social media surveillance hubs begin full 24/7 operations in Vermont and California.
• November 2025: Court hearing scheduled on subpoenas seeking activist social media data.

Where to find official information

For agency statements and press contacts, readers can check ICE Public Affairs through ICE.gov. That page provides official releases and background on programs involved in these changes.

People applying for nonimmigrant visas should review the State Department’s guidance and complete Form DS-160 through the department’s website: Form DS-160. Applicants should expect their social media identifiers to be part of the process and keep posts public during screening if asked.

Practical steps to reduce risk

While these steps cannot remove risk, they can help manage it:

• Save screenshots of social media posts that may be misread and keep a simple explanation ready.
• Use clear, non-violent language online; avoid jokes that can be read as threats.
• Keep copies of school enrollment, job letters, I-94 records, and proof of lawful status handy.
• Seek legal advice before speaking with officers if approached during a site visit, and ask if you are free to leave.
• Set family plans for childcare and attorney contacts in case of unexpected detention.

Employers and schools are also taking measures:

• Reviewing internal compliance and training staff on how to handle inspections.
• Community colleges and universities advising international students to attend orientation on speech, protests, and travel risks—especially as ImmigrationOS ties together multiple data streams that may trigger flags at the border or during benefits updates.

“The coming months will test how courts, Congress, and the public respond to a system built on Palantir’s ImmigrationOS, 24/7 social media monitoring, and broad data-sharing directives—and whether checks emerge to keep the balance between security and civil rights.”

Administration officials argue these tools protect public safety and focus on violent criminals and organized fraud. Critics counter that the dragnet reaches far beyond those targets, capturing people with no criminal history and punishing lawful speech. With expanded surveillance powers in place and new actors like USCIS now armed and authorized to arrest, the lines between immigration benefits, policing, and political activity have blurred for millions living, studying, and working in the country.