Thomson Reuters, the media company which is also a data broker, has long provided underlying personal data for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tools, according to documents obtained by 404 Media and sources. There are also indications its data is now part of the Palantir system ICE uses to find which neighborhoods to target.The findings draw a clearer line between Thomson Reuters\u2019 data business\u2014which can involve selling names, addresses, car registration information, Social Security numbers, and details on someone\u2019s ethnicity under the brand name CLEAR\u2014and the specific tools ICE is ingesting the data into. The news also comes after Thomson Reuters employees sent leadership a signed letter expressing their unease with the company\u2019s ICE and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contracts, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported last month.\u201cIf these allegations are true, they cut directly against Thomson Reuters\u2019 claims that its products and services are limited to fighting serious crime and are not facilitating deportations,\u201d Emma Pullman, head of shareholder engagement and responsible investment for the B.C. General Employees\u2019 Union (BCGEU), told 404 Media. BCGEU is a minority shareholder in Thomson Reuters and has recently engaged the company concerning its work with ICE, BCGEU said.\ud83d\udca1Do you work at Thomson Reuters, Palantir, or DHS? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404 or send me an email at joseph@404media.co.An internal Palantir wiki 404 Media obtained explained Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a part of ICE that used to be focused on criminal investigations but has now shifted to immigration enforcement, used a Palantir-built system called FALCON before moving onto an HSI internal tool. A former Palantir employee has since told 404 Media Thomson Reuters\u2019 CLEAR specifically was used in that FALCON system.In 2025 Palantir said it became a \u201cmore mature partner to ICE\u201d when the company started work on other systems during Trump\u2019s mass deportation effort. That included a tool called Enhanced Leads Identification & Targeting for Enforcement, or ELITE, 404 Media revealed in January. ELITE populates a map with potential deportation targets, brings up a dossier on each person, and provides a \u201cconfidence score\u201d on the person\u2019s current address. An ICE official testified about using the tool before officials detained more than 30 people which lawyers have described as a \u201cdragnet.\u201d\u00a0Internal ICE material showed ELITE got these addresses from various sources, including government agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The material also said a source of the addresses was \u201cCLEAR.\u201dTwo Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources believe the material refers to Thomson Reuters\u2019 CLEAR. \u201cI have to think it\u2019s the same CLEAR,\u201d one said. 404 Media granted several sources in this story anonymity as they weren\u2019t permitted to speak to the press about these topics.\u2018ELITE\u2019: The Palantir App ICE Uses to Find Neighborhoods to RaidInternal ICE material and testimony from an official obtained by 404 Media provides the clearest link yet between the technological infrastructure Palantir is building for ICE and the agency\u2019s activities on the ground.404 MediaJoseph CoxThomson Reuters data is also mentioned in documentation about Mobile Companion, an app made by Motorola for querying license plate scans. ICE recently sent a message to all ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) staff, who are focused on deportations specifically, about the tool, 404 Media previously reported. The material sent to ICE said users can further enhance their investigations by combining Motorola\u2019s license plate reader network with Thomson Reuters\u2019 data. \u201cThomson Reuters CLEAR combines comprehensive public and proprietary data with nationwide license plate data from Motorola Solutions\u2019 secure shared data network to help take vehicle-involved investigations to a more precise level,\u201d the material said.\u00a0404 Media made multiple attempts to get Thomson Reuters to comment for this story. Originally, Thomson Reuters said it would provide information \u201con background\u201d over email, but then noted the background information would be material \u201cyou can use to inform your article but not attribute to Thomson Reuters.\u201d 404 Media explained that, like many publications, \u201con background\u201d to us means we could paraphrase the information and attribute it to the company. Thomson Reuters then said, \u201cWe do not agree with your definition of \u2018on background\u2019 and therefore are unable to address the misstatements we believe you may make in your story\u201d and ultimately refused to comment.In procurement documents available online, DHS says \u201cCLEAR is vital to the mission-essential, time sensitive investigative work of several DHS Components as it makes it easier to locate people, assets, businesses, affiliations, and other critical facts.\u201d\u201cWithout this data, DHS would not be able to identify targets associated with criminal enterprise, terrorism, and immigration fraud as rapidly,\u201d the documents add.Those documents show CLEAR\u2019s data can include a person\u2019s name, address, date of birth, phone records, driver license, motor vehicle registrations, Social Security number, marital status, household information such as their household members, and details on their public social media.In March the Minnesota Star Tribune reported it had spoken to half a dozen Thomson Reuters employees mostly based in Eagan, home to one of the company\u2019s largest U.S. offices, and where many of the employees\u2019 jobs relate to CLEAR. \u201cPeople are worried about the role their job has played in what has happened,\u201d one employee reportedly said, referring to Operation Metro Surge, the DHS operation focused on Minnesota in which officials killed Ren\u00e9e Good and Alex Pretti. The outlet reported around 180 workers sent Thomson Reuters leadership a letter expressing their unease and asking about the company\u2019s supervision of its DHS and ICE contracts. The New York Times later reported more than 200 employees had signed the letter.The Minnesota Star Tribune also quoted an internal Thomson Reuters message from Kevin Appold, the company\u2019s vice president for projects and U.S. public records. \u201cWe prohibit customers from using CLEAR to identify or locate undocumented immigrants who have not committed crimes,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"