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ICE and Palantir: US agents using health data to hunt illegal immigrants

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Re: ICE and Palantir: US agents using health data to hunt illegal immigrants

#181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HHS is broader than CMMS. Someone who was formerly legal could now be illegal. But more prominently, Miller and Noem have focused on illegally deporting pending asylum cases to juice their numbers. Those folks may show up in HHS (and IRS) data.

I’m against using health data to benefit ICE but what you’re saying doesn’t make sense. There needs to be a critical mass of data for it to be useful to Palantir. If they are passing Medicare and Medicaid data, does that mean that undocumented migrants are getting Medicare and Medicaid?

> If they are passing Medicare and Medicaid data

It’s not. Palantir “receives peoples’ addresses from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)” [1]. That’s broader than Medicare or Medicaid.

If you’re on a legal visa and have to get a prescription filled, I think you’ll wind up in those data. (Same if you are legally on Medicare with a spouse who overstayed their visa.)

> does that mean that undocumented migrants are getting Medicare and Medicaid?

Not necessarily. As I said, these data are broader than CMMS. And the targets of the current ICE are not undocumented migrants. (I live in Wyoming, near the Idaho border. The farm workers are fine.)

[1] https://www.404media.co/elite-the-palantir-app-ice-uses-to-f...

Re: ICE and Palantir: US agents using health data to hunt illegal immigrants

#182
post #49

If I'm reading this correctly, they're just straight up violating the law. They're sharing information with ICE under an obligation to share information of aliens, but they're actually sharing everyone's information in an effort to identify aliens. That seems like a pretty slam shut case if there were any mechanism to investigate and prosecute it.

It has become quite clear in recent months that the the rule of law will not be enforced on the federal government or their allies.

It's pretty clear for decades. When exactly did some higher up in the US gov end up in jail for ordering eg. mass killings abroad, or colluding with others that engaged in mass crimes like initiating wars and conflicts.

US will not lock up a single asshole who helps kill thousands of people abroad (not even inconvenience them with a simple court appearance to have to justify themselves), but it sure can lock up thousands on flimsiest justifications like FTA in court because of whatever, or technical parole violations, or driving on suspended license, basically for failures to navigate bureaucracy while poor.

I'll believe in rule of law when at least shits who materially support mass killings of children will start getting locked up. But alas, no. No such thing.

Until then it's all just bullshit that normal people have to submit to, and ruling class gets to excuse itself from with endless lawyering, exceptions, and nonsense, while it's clear they're still just scum psychos doing scum psycho things.

Re: ICE and Palantir: US agents using health data to hunt illegal immigrants

#183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Key part of what you wrote: "as to the identity and location of aliens" - so whatever claim they have to access health information applies to aliens. The big question is: are they harvesting citizens' health records illegally as part of this effort, and if so, when do those responsible see jail time?

> are they harvesting citizens' health records illegally as part of this effort, and if so, when do those responsible see jail time? I’m honestly curious if this would be a Privacy Act or HIPAA violation. The article seems to be unsure on this.

I’m also unsure, but I haven’t understood HIPAA to constrain governmental actions. It’s a short law so I will review it (not a lawyer all the same).

Re: ICE and Palantir: US agents using health data to hunt illegal immigrants

#184
Palantir is just the data platform. Yeah, they have algorithms and software for aggregating large amounts if data and connecting them. They don’t “have” the data. It’s still with the government.

The data shouldn’t be shared unless comsent is provided. But I’m unsure of why Palantir is the bad person for developing software.

I don’t work for Palantir or hold their stock.

Re: ICE and Palantir: US agents using health data to hunt illegal immigrants

#185
post #143

From the leftist-Communist rag (/s) Wall Street Journal : > It started out that way. At the beginning of 2025, 87% of ICE arrests were immigrants with either a prior conviction or a criminal charge pending, according to ICE data obtained by the Deportation Data Project. Only 13% of those arrested at the beginning of 2025 didn’t have either a conviction or a pending charge. > But the criminal share of apprehensions ha…

I have read the Obama era numbers are inflated because they counted turn aways at the border. It’s also a little interesting that Obama was able to be against illegal immigration without a ton of pushback. Why was that?

Team sports basically. And when you point out double standards, you got slammed as some "both sides" guy from the other team pretending to be a centrist.

Re: ICE and Palantir: US agents using health data to hunt illegal immigrants

#186
post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

A concentration camp is a place where large amounts of Jews were killed. Using it to describe deportation where people aren't killed is offensive to some and full of fake drama to others.

> A concentration camp is a place where large amounts of Jews were killed. U

That's incorrect. A concentration camp is a place where a government or authority detains large numbers of people without normal legal process, usually because they belong to a particular group rather than because of individual crimes.

Historical examples:

- Nazi Germany (1933–1945)

- British camps during the Second Boer War (1899–1902)

- Imperial Japan

- United States (1942–1945)

Re: ICE and Palantir: US agents using health data to hunt illegal immigrants

#187

Impeach. Remove. Laws and protections do not just apply for citizens. They apply anyone in the United States.

They apply to people who are here illegally? Every county on earth has a border and doesn't allow people to cross unregulated.

Re: ICE and Palantir: US agents using health data to hunt illegal immigrants

#188
post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A concentration camp is a place where large amounts of Jews were killed. Using it to describe deportation where people aren't killed is offensive to some and full of fake drama to others.

People can be concentrated without being killed.

Or counted for later concentration.

Similarly, Nazis did this with census machines so they knew how to scale concentration camps.

In 2001, Edwin Black published a book about strategic partnership of IBM with Nazis since 1933 til end of WWII.

Re: ICE and Palantir: US agents using health data to hunt illegal immigrants

#189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they effective? Do you have data on the number of people they've correctly identified vs false-positives. In fact, do you have any evidence they're even trying to limit false positives? The reason they are able to very efficiently send a dozen ICE agents to a random persons home to hold them at gun point until they can prove their immigration status is because the goal is to send ICE agents around holding people…

If I understand correctly, you're saying that in a majority of cases (or something approaching that) the targets of these raids are not subject to lawful deportation? I would be curious to have data / information showing that.

I'm saying we have absolutely no concrete statistical data, and in the press we have many cases where law enforcement has been deliberately negligent in order to deport people who were here legally. We can actually see them deliberately trying to avoid doing the things you would do if you wanted to establish the people you were trying to deport were here illegally. So it's fair to say, until we have some evidence that these people were here illegally the sensible thing to do is to assume they are innocent.

It's also kind of a problem to say "Oh well, we've got no concrete data, let's continue to let them deport whoever they like and shoot anyone who gets in the way".

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