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AI meets ICE

34 0
04.02.2026

A.I.

AI meets ICE

Agencies at every level of government are buying AI-powered surveillance tools. These tools increasingly watch everyone, and not always accurately

ByJackie Snow

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Published 16 hours ago|Updated 8 hours ago

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Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A version of this article originally appeared in Quartz’s AI & Tech newsletter. Sign up here to get the latest AI & tech news, analysis and insights straight to your inbox.

In 2016, Donald Trump promised to secure the border with a physical wall. In his second term as president, the infrastructure is digital, and it doesn't stop at the border.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security's deportation arm, saw its 2025 budget triple to $28.7 billion, a sum that would rank the agency as the 14th highest-funded military in the world, right between Ukraine and Israel. Much of it is going toward surveillance technology — tools to crack phones, monitor social media, and track movements.

And they aren't alone. Agencies at every level of government........

© Quartz