Feb 20, 2026 1:27 PM

Metadata Exposes Authors of ICE’s ‘Mega’ Detention Center Plans

Comments and other data left on a PDF detailing Homeland Security’s proposal to build “mega” detention and processing centers reveal the personnel involved in its creation.

The Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, DC on June 9, 2025.Photograph: Bryan Dozier/Getty Images

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Maddy Varner is a senior reporter for WIRED. In the past, she was an investigative data journalist at The Markup, where she brought numbers to stories about labor, education and politics. Before The Markup, she was a researcher at ProPublica, where she was on a team that won a Loeb ... Read More

Senior Writer, Investigations

Topicsprivacy immigration Immigration and Customs Enforcement Department of Homeland Security

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“If you are interested in helping shape and deliver the next chapter of Palantir’s work across DHS, please reach out,” a Palantir executive wrote to employees about the massive purchasing agreement.

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ICE Pretends It’s a Military Force. Its Tactics Would Get Real Soldiers Killed

WIRED asked an active military officer to break down immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis and elsewhere.

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Redditors Are Mounting a Resistance Against ICE

A user from r/Minneapolis was among the first to share footage of federal agents shooting Alex Pretti. Following his death, subreddits about football, cats, and embroidery have all rallied against ICE.

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Social Security Workers Are Being Told to Hand Over Appointment Details to ICE

The recent request goes against decades of precedent and puts noncitizens at further risk of immigration enforcement actions.

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How to Film ICE

Filming federal agents in public is legal, but avoiding a dangerous—even deadly—confrontation isn’t guaranteed. Here’s how to record ICE and CBP agents as safely as possible and have an impact.

Maddy Varner

DHS Wants a Single Search Engine to Flag Faces and Fingerprints Across Agencies

Homeland Security aims to combine its face and fingerprint systems into one big biometric platform—after dismantling centralized privacy reviews and key limits on face recognition.

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Palantir CEO Alex Karp Recorded a Video About ICE for His Employees

In a video shared with Palantir employees, Alex Karp did not explain how ICE is utilizing the company’s products. Instead, workers were told they can sign NDAs if they want detailed information.

Makena Kelly

Judge Delays Minnesota ICE Decision While Weighing Whether State Is Being Illegally Punished

A federal judge ordered a new briefing due Wednesday on whether DHS is using armed raids to pressure Minnesota into abandoning its sanctuary policies, leaving ICE operations in place for now.

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Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti

“In my opinion ICE are the bad guys. I am not proud that the company I enjoy so much working for is part of this,” one worker wrote on Slack.

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A Wave of Unexplained Bot Traffic Is Sweeping the Web

From small publishers to US federal agencies, websites are reporting unusual spikes in automated traffic linked to IP addresses in Lanzhou, China.

Zeyi Yang

ICE and CBP’s Face-Recognition App Can’t Actually Verify Who People Are

ICE has used Mobile Fortify to identify immigrants and citizens alike over 100,000 times, by one estimate. It wasn't built to work like that—and only got approved after DHS abandoned its own privacy rules.

Maddy Varner

ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next

ICE plans to lease offices throughout the US as part of a secret, monthslong expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.

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