DHS Procurement

Palantir Technologies has become the dominant technology vendor across all three major DHS operational components: CBP, ICE, and USCIS. In February 2026, DHS awarded Palantir a five-year blanket purchase agreement valued at over $1 billion, covering AI and data analytics platforms including Gotham and Foundry. The BPA structure allows CBP, ICE, and USCIS to issue task orders for investigative case management, threat identification, logistics, and emergency response without returning to competitive bidding for each engagement. ¹

The BPA builds on an already extensive Palantir presence at DHS. In April 2025, ICE awarded Palantir a $30 million sole-source contract for ImmigrationOS, an Immigration Lifecycle Operating System that tracks immigrants, generates enforcement dossiers through its ELITE tool, and maps deportation targets. The sole-source justification cited "urgent and compelling need." ⁷ The same period saw a $70.3 million contract (September 2022 through April 2026) for Investigative Case Management operations, maintenance, and custom enhancements at ICE, a legacy engagement that predates the current administration. ⁸

At USCIS, three task orders totaling approximately $998,000 between October 2025 and March 2026 funded a "Vetting of Wedding-Based Schemes" (VOWS) platform to detect marriage fraud, proceeding through Phase 0 ($225,000), Phase 1 ($398,500), and Phase 2 ($374,500). ⁹ The cumulative effect is a DHS technology infrastructure in which Palantir software processes immigration enforcement intelligence, case management, vetting, and operational logistics across the department, with the BPA mechanism ensuring contract continuity for at least five additional years.

Palantir's DHS position exists within a broader government footprint exceeding $2.4 billion in total federal spending. Co-founder Peter Thiel is a major Trump donor, and Palantir alumni occupy key government technology positions: Michael Kratsios serves as Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Jacob Helberg as Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, and Shyam Sankar serves on the Defense Innovation Board. The DHS BPA represents the latest expansion of a procurement relationship that has grown in both scope and structural entrenchment over successive administrations.

The physical and electronic border enforcement apparatus at DHS is dominated by two vendors. Fisher Sand & Gravel, a North Dakota construction firm that was controversially awarded border wall contracts during the first Trump administration, leads all DHS recipients since January 2025 with $2.7 billion in "Smart Wall" construction across multiple sectors: El Centro ($60 million), Tucson 2 ($1.495 billion), New Mexico Bootheel ($679 million), and Laredo projects ($160 million). ⁵

Anduril Industries, founded by Palmer Luckey and backed by Founders Fund and Andreessen Horowitz, ranks as the 12th largest DHS recipient with $511.5 million since January 2025, all through CBP for Autonomous Surveillance Towers. Major awards include a $150 million SBIR Phase III tower IDIQ (December 2025), a $104.7 million award (September 2025), a $90 million operations and sustainment Year 5 contract (September 2025), and a $47.9 million delivery order (August 2025). ²

The surveillance layer extends to facial recognition and spyware. ICE-HSI awarded Clearview AI a $30.75 million contract in September 2025, the largest DHS Clearview purchase to date, with $16.75 million obligated up front. CBP also purchased Clearview licenses for Yuma and Spokane sectors at $49,000 to $50,000 each, bringing total DHS Clearview spending since 2020 to approximately $31.1 million. ¹⁰ Separately, ICE reactivated a $2 million contract for Paragon Solutions' Graphite spyware in September 2025. Paragon, an Israeli surveillance firm, was acquired by U.S. private equity firm AE Industrial Partners, a transaction that effectively circumvented a Biden-era executive order restricting foreign spyware procurement. Graphite can covertly access encrypted phone data without user interaction. ¹¹

Several DHS contracts awarded since January 2025 exhibit procedural irregularities that raise questions about competitive integrity. Safe America Media LLC received $142.8 million across three no-bid contracts between February and August 2025 for DHS's "Stronger Borders, Stronger America" advertising campaign. The company was incorporated just eight days before its first contract award. Its subcontractor, Strategy Group, has ties to Kristi Noem's political operation, and the firm's CEO is married to DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin. The three task orders comprised $42.8 million (February 2025), $50 million for campaign expansion (August 2025), and $50 million for ICE recruitment advertising (August 2025). ³

A separate $499,000 public relations contract went to American Made Media Company LLC (AMMC), whose founding partners both worked with Corey Lewandowski and Trump campaigns. The solicitation was open for a 31-hour bidding window and the contract description explicitly required an "established track record of promoting Trump administration policies." ¹²

In January 2026, DHS awarded a $30.5 million sole-bidder contract to Nextech Solutions LLC for Wraithwatch Enterprise Security Software. Wraithwatch was founded by Nik Seetharaman, former CIO at Anduril Industries, who also previously served as SpaceX cybersecurity lead, led Palantir international cyber programs, and was a JSOC operator. The career trajectory of Wraithwatch's founder traces the same network of defense technology firms that dominate DHS procurement more broadly: Palantir to SpaceX to Anduril to a new startup that wins a DHS contract as sole bidder. ¹³

The DHS procurement apparatus is characterized by a convergence of advisory, approval, and investment functions held by individuals with overlapping relationships. Internal DHS records obtained by ProPublica (March 2026) show that Corey Lewandowski personally approves multimillion-dollar contracts, with his name typically appearing last on the approval checklist before Secretary Noem's. DHS policy requires the Secretary to review all contracts exceeding $100,000, and Lewandowski serves as the final political checkpoint in that process. This was revealed after Noem told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Lewandowski has "no" role in DHS procurement decisions. ⁴

Lewandowski has refused to disclose his outside income while serving as a special government employee at DHS. His lobbying history includes 97 LDA filings across 19 clients, but zero defense technology or Silicon Valley venture capital clients, meaning his influence on procurement flows through government authority rather than through registered lobbying channels. This distinction matters because the influence pathway is invisible to standard lobbying disclosure requirements. Representative Garcia and American Oversight have demanded his OGE-278e financial disclosure form. ⁴

Simultaneously, Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, sits alongside Lewandowski on the DHS Homeland Security Advisory Council, appointed in June 2025. The first HSAC meeting convened on July 2, 2025. Andreessen Horowitz has a $1.176 billion defense fund and portfolio companies that bid for DHS contracts, including through its investments in Anduril Industries and the broader defense technology ecosystem. This creates a structural loop: a venture capital firm invests in defense and security startups, its co-founder advises DHS on security priorities, and the resulting contracts flow to companies in which the firm holds equity positions. ⁶

The pattern extends to DHS Deputy Secretary Troy Dean Edgar, whose financial disclosure reveals holdings in Palantir (which has the $1 billion-plus DHS BPA), Raytheon, and Tesla. This means DHS leadership holds personal financial interests in vendors receiving billions in DHS contracts while simultaneously overseeing the procurement process. Combined with the DOGE pipeline that placed Palantir alumni as CIOs at agencies overseeing Palantir contracts, the boundaries between vendor, investor, advisor, and approver have become structurally blurred across the DHS procurement apparatus.