Peter Thiel co-founded Palantir Technologies Inc. has signed a $29.8 million contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to enhance its immigration enforcement tools. This new deal is an expansion of an existing agreement and concentrates on tracking visa overstays and self-deportations through a system called ImmigrationOS.

What Happened: The contract, reviewed by 404 Media, details a prototype of ImmigrationOS, a software suite created to streamline ICE's case management system.

The upgrade promises "near real-time visibility" into cases of self-deportation and promises to cover the "end-to-end immigration lifecycle," from identifying individuals to removal.

The system will also track visa overstays and share data with Customs and Border Protection for synchronized enforcement.

Why It Matters: These technological tools are being conceptualised in accordance with executive orders that define unauthorized immigration and transnational crime as national security threats.

According to ICE, the software will help prioritize enforcement against individuals highlighted for serious offenses, but also broadens scrutiny to civil immigration violations.

ICE stressed Palantir's decade-long role in building and maintaining these systems, pointing to the contractor’s compliance with DHS privacy and security standards.

Palantir, along with Elon Musk's SpaceX, may also be major players in President Donald Trump's proposed Golden Dome missile defense initiative.

Delivery of the ImmigrationOS prototype is expected by Sept. 25.