NJ Urged To Sell Palantir Shares Over ICE Immigration Deal

Advocates are criticizing New Jersey’s pension fund investment in Palantir, an AI and data analytics company that secured a $30 million federal contract for immigration enforcement.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials signed the contract with Palantir in April to create software to track immigrants that have self-deported and those who have allegedly overstayed their visas.

The state has invested part of its pension fund into Palantir, a Denver-based company cofounded by President Donald Trump ally and billionaire Peter Thiel.

Hundreds gathered at a Newark protest on Monday as local immigrant rights groups and labor unions urged the state to divest from the company. 

“We are marching because Palantir makes billions from government contracts that, in turn, are used to spy, hunt on, detain and deport black and brown people here in New Jersey. We believe in democracy, and we believe in freedom,” said Nedia Morsy, executive director of Make the Road New Jersey.

ICE is set to begin using ImmigrationOS, a program designed to help officials comb through records by flagging potential violations, on Thursday, according to CNN.

Palantir has worked with ICE since 2013 to create programs that aid operations. Since January, the company has received more than $900 million in federal contracts, according to the American Immigration Council.

Those who spoke at Monday’s rally expressed concern that similar software could be used on anyone in the United States, especially other communities of color.

“Today I’m here to say to the people who don’t identify themselves as immigrants: you think this is just for the immigrants? This is for all of us,” said Lawrence Hamm, chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress. “When they violate the constitutional rights…they will lose those same techniques to violate the constitutional rights of all of us.”

New Jersey has a history of using divestment for political purposes. The state pulled investments from companies tied to Sudan in 2005, Iran in 2007, firms boycotting Israel in 2016, and Russia in 2022. Legislation pending in the legislature (S198) would require divestment from fossil fuel companies.

SEC filings show New Jersey reduced its Palantir holdings from 748,244 to 721,389 shares between January and June, but the investment’s value jumped from $56.6 million to $98.3 million as shares nearly doubled in price since Trump took office. 

Some single-name stocks were sold for other investments, Division of Investment Director Shoaib Khan told NJ Spotlight News in May. Palantir makes up less than 1% of the state pension fund’s stock investments.

Other states with Democratic governors like New York, California, and Michigan also hold shares in the company.

Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has signed landmark pro-immigrant legislation during his tenure in office, though has been silent about the state’s investments in Palantir. A spokesperson for Murphy’s office did not comment when asked about advocates’ concerns and instead directed NJ Urban News to the state Department of Treasury. The agency did not respond. 

Other Democratic state lawmakers, however, have raised alarms about Palantir. State Senator Raj Mukherji (D-Hudson) and Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker (D-Essex) attended Monday’s protest to express their support of advocates and immigrant communities.

“We all know the dangers, the pitfalls of AI and algorithms when it comes to bias, when it comes to inaccuracy,” said Mukherji. “We should not support the deployment of this surveillance and this kind of technology with our tax dollars, with our pension fund.”