Students at more than 15 university campuses from California to Cambridge demonstrated Tuesday against the technology company Palantir’s work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The coalition of students, which range from engineering organizations like Yale’s YHack to activist groups like Cal Bears Against ICE, say ICE used Palantir software to facilitate workplace raids that rounded up hundreds of immigrants for arrest and deportation earlier this year. One of the company’s flagship contracts with the agency is up for renewal next week.
More than 2,500 students previously signed a petition not to work with Palantir because of its involvement with ICE, according to a statement from the coalition, and the company has all but halted recruiting efforts on several elite campuses due to public pressure. Palantir cancelled an event at UC Berkeley Monday after a protest.
