Across the United States, state and local police are quietly sharing flawed gang database information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), fueling a covert deportation system that targets immigrants without due process. An investigation by The Intercept reveals that at least eight states and major cities, including New York, Texas, Illinois, and Virginia, are contributing to these error-prone databases, which rely on subjective factors like clothing, tattoos, and associations, often without arrests or notification to those affected.

“This opens the door to an incredible amount of abuse,” said Nayna Gupta of the American Immigration Council. “This is our worst fear.”

ICE gains access to local intelligence through outdated systems like the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC), created in the 1960s, and post-9/11 fusion centers designed for terrorism intelligence. No court approval is needed. Instead, data move freely into ICE’s hands through systems like the “Gang File", developed with Palantir Technologies, co-founded by Trump ally Peter Thiel and still expanding under a $96 million Biden-era contract.

The human cost is staggering. In March, ICE deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison CECOT based on a flimsy police report citing nothing more than an informant’s word, a hoodie, and a Chicago Bulls hat, described as “indicative of Hispanic gang culture.” In February, ICE wrongly arrested Venezuelan barber Francisco Garcia Casique after confusing him with someone else. The database had the wrong photo.

States skirting sanctuary laws

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Even in “sanctuary” states, police are quietly bypassing protections. In Illinois, the state police continued feeding a gang list of over 90,000 names to Homeland Security for 17 years, likely violating its own 2017 law limiting ICE cooperation. In Texas, a 2017 law backed by Governor Greg Abbott mandates participation in TxGANG, a registry with over 71,000 names, directly tied to the FBI’s NCIC and accessible by ICE in real time.

New York State Police operates a 20-year-old gang database with over 5,100 entries, never audited, and directly linked to federal systems. Chicago shut down its own gang list in 2023 after an audit revealed entries for people over 100 years old and others with no gang ties at all. Still, ICE had already used the database to arrest immigrants, including at least one later proven to have been misidentified.

Fusion centers, multi-agency intelligence-sharing hubs created after 9/11, have become a back door for ICE access. In Boston, a teen was detained after a schoolyard fight led to a gang label. In Maryland, state intelligence officials threatened to cut D.C. funding unless police handed over gang data. In Los Angeles, the sheriff’s office continues sharing entries from the CalGang database with Homeland Security, despite a state law prohibiting such use for immigration enforcement.

Police-ICE data pipeline expanded

US President Donald Trump’s latest budget, signed on July 4, allocates $14 billion to strengthen ICE’s local partnerships and expand the police-ICE data pipeline. That includes increased funding for fusion centers and incentives for police departments to contribute intelligence.

Furthermore, Gupta from the American Immigration Council said that the Trump administration's crackdowns have been made possible by years of growing police surveillance and speculative gang enforcement practices that laid the groundwork for such measures.

“The core problem is one that extends far beyond the Trump administration,” she emphasized. “You let the due process bar drop that far for so long, it makes it very easy for Trump.”

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