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Trump’s immigration data dragnet

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Trump’s immigration data dragnet

“I’ve seen the apps and I don’t like them,” says a DHS official who left this year. “It’s rife for abuse. I imagine they’re being used in ways they were not intended.”

He highlighted the risks of misidentification, noting that facial recognition often has elevated error rates for people of colour. “I have no confidence that there’s any oversight from people who are serious and understand” the tech, he adds.

In September, ICE renewed its access to a facial recognition search engine called Clearview AI, which has been banned in some states. Earlier contracts and privacy documents state that it would be used for “child sexual exploitation cases”, but this year’s contract added “assaults against law enforcement” — which former officials fear might extend to protestors. The company declined to comment.

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Clearview AI


This award procures facial recognition software, which supports homeland security investigations with capabilities of identifying victims and offenders in child sexual exploitation cases and assaults against law enforcement officers.

ICE and Customs and Border Protection also collect DNA from detainees and asylum applicants, according to a privacy disclosure. One attorney says he was representing a US citizen who was given a cheek swab while incorrectly detained. Samples are stored in an FBI database where they are queryable by a range of law enforcement agencies.

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ICE has also signed a contract with BI² Technologies, a vendor selling handheld eye scanners. Former officials questioned the need for the devices, noting that the agency held few, if any, iris scans to search. “My first question is why?” a former privacy official says. “What do you expect to get out of this? If they’re just out there collecting irises and biometrics, that’s a problem for me.”

BI²’s registered lobbyist, Ballard Partners, has close ties to the Trump administration, raising money for its campaign and previously employing Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.

CONTRACT SUMMARYOpen contract

BI² Technologies


This is a new award for iris biometric recognition technology for offender recognition and access to a biometric information system to allow ICE agents to quickly authenticate the identity of subjects during field operations.

Lobbying disclosures show that Ballard also works on behalf of a host of other tech firms doing business with ICE, including Palantir; DNA testing firm SNA International; cell-phone intercept vendor L3Harris; open-source data broker Babel Street; and the Thomson Reuters subsidiary selling Clear. Ballard declined to comment.

“They’re spending a lot of money on things they might not even use, to benefit people who are maybe close to the administration,” says Dave Maass, director of investigations at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital privacy nonprofit monitoring ICE’s surveillance purchases. “They’re moving very fast.”

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Procurement records also show that ICE has obtained tools previous administrations found problematic.

In August, ICE removed a hold on a $2mn contract with the Israeli spyware firm Paragon Solutions, which sells a phone-hacking tool called Graphite. It has been used by the Italian government to target European journalists with iMessage and WhatsApp attacks, according to researchers at CitizenLab.

The contract was paused by the Biden White House, which had banned the use of spyware sold by foreign companies with human rights concerns. Paragon was subsequently acquired by US-based private equity firm AE Industrial Partners, which also controls Department of Defense contractor REDLattice.

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Video: Their Mother Was Detained. Now a Minneapolis Family Lives in Fear.

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Video: Their Mother Was Detained. Now a Minneapolis Family Lives in Fear.

new video loaded: Their Mother Was Detained. Now a Minneapolis Family Lives in Fear.

After a Minneapolis woman was arrested by ICE agents, the children she left behind face an uncertain future. In the days following their mother’s detainment, the oldest daughter spoke to The New York Times.

By Ang Li, Bethlehem Feleke, Ben Garvin and Caroline Kim

January 28, 2026

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The FBI conducts a search at the Fulton County election office in Georgia

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The FBI conducts a search at the Fulton County election office in Georgia

An election worker walks near voting machines at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center on Nov. 5, 2024.

John Bazemore/AP


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John Bazemore/AP

The FBI says it’s executing a “court authorized law enforcement action” at a location in Georgia that is home to the Fulton County election office.

When asked about the search, the FBI would not clarify whether the action is tied to the 2020 election, but last month the Department of Justice announced it’s suing Fulton County for records related to the 2020 election.

In its complaint, the DOJ cited efforts by the Georgia State Election Board to obtain 2020 election materials from the county.

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On Oct. 30, 2025, the complaint says, the U.S. attorney general sent a letter to the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections “demanding ‘all records in your possession responsive to the recent subpoena issued to your office by the State Election Board.’ “

A Fulton County judge has denied a request by the county to block that subpoena.

Since the 2020 election, Fulton County has been at the center of baseless claims of election fraud by President Trump and others.

In November the sweeping election interference case against Trump and allies was dismissed by a Fulton County judge.

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Rep. Ilhan Omar rushed by man on stage and sprayed with liquid at town hall event

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Rep. Ilhan Omar rushed by man on stage and sprayed with liquid at town hall event

A man is tackled after spraying an unknown substance at US Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (L) during a town hall she was hosting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 27, 2026. (Photo by Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty Images)

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Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was rushed by a man during a town hall event Tuesday night and sprayed with a liquid via a syringe.

Footage from the event shows a man approaching Omar at her lectern as she is delivering remarks and spraying an unknown substance in her direction, before swiftly being tackled by security. Omar called on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign or face impeachment immediately before the assault.

Noem has faced criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minneapolis Saturday.

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Omar’s staff can be heard urging her to step away and get “checked out,” with others nearby saying the substance smelled bad.

“We will continue,” Omar responded. “These f******* a**holes are not going to get away with it.”

A statement from Omar’s office released after the event said the individual who approached and sprayed the congresswoman is now in custody.

“The Congresswoman is okay,” the statement read. “She continued with her town hall because she doesn’t let bullies win.”

A syringe lays on the ground after a man, left, approached Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, during a town hall event in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. The man was apprehended after spraying unknown substance according the to Associated Press. Photographer: Angelina Katsanis/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A syringe lays on the ground after a man, left, approached Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, during a town hall event in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. The man was apprehended after spraying an unknown substance according to the Associated Press. Photographer: Angelina Katsanis/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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Omar followed up with a statement on social media saying she will not be intimidated.

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As Omar continued her remarks at the town hall, she said: “We are Minnesota strong and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us.”

Just three days ago, fellow Democrat Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida said he was assaulted at the Sundance Festival by a man “who told me that Trump was going to deport me before he punched me in the face.”

Threats against Congressional lawmakers have been rising. Last year, there was an increase in security funding in the wake of growing concerns about political violence in the country.

According to the U.S. Capitol Police, the number of threat assessment cases has increased for the third year in a row. In 2025, the USCP investigated 14,938 “concerning statements, behaviors, and communications” directed towards congressional lawmakers, their families and staff. That figure represents a nearly 58% increase from 2024.

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