2 weeks Ago By Chris Katje
A Palantir Technologies Inc PLTR executive replied to a post on social media that called out the defense contractor for a new extended contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Here's what Palantir Global Head of Commercial Ted Mabrey had to say. What Happened: Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham criticized in a social media post the work being done by Palantir to help the Trump administration in rounding up immigrants.
"It's a very exciting time in tech right now. If you're a first-rate programmer, there are a huge number of other places you can go work rather than at the company building the infrastructure of the police state," Graham tweeted . Graham shared a post on the ICE contract with Palantir that will build "ImmigrationOS" to expand surveillance and enforcement operations.
Included in the post were highlights of ImmigrationOS providing data on via overstays, self-deportation cases and individuals flagged for removal, including "foreign students flagged for removal for protesting U.S.-Israeli genocide.
" Mabrey said Palantir's work with the Department of Homeland Security has spanned the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations. "We are not looking for partisans at Palantir. Our mission spans administrations and political climates and our culture is one of constant disagreement," Mabrey said.
The Palantir executive, who has been with the company since 2010 according to LinkedIn , said immigration policies can't be executed by governments. "If the electorate cannot steer the execution of our government because the government cannot execute, our institutions lose all credibility, and the risk moves from an X debate to a much more fundamental one." Mabrey said Palantir hires "believers" and the company's work is hard and covers "all sides of the political aisle.
" Read Also: Palantir Q4 Earnings: Revenue Beat, EPS Beat, US Revenue Up 52%, Customer Count Up 43%, Strong Guidance Why It's Important: In the social media post, Mabrey highlights past work done by Palantir, such as protecting people in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, helping with vaccines during Operation Warp Speed, helping with the Afghan withdrawal and enabling "David to resist Goliath in Ukraine." "My politics have not agreed with many of the policies our software has enabled. But through all of them I have held the steadfast belief that if our government institutions are not competent, politics does not matter.
" Graham replied asking if Mabrey and/or Palantir would commit publicly to not "build things that help the government violate the U.S. constitution.
" Another lengthy post from Mabrey said this question from Graham was "in bad faith" and compared it to a courtroom trick. Mabrey said the company's employee political makeup is "enormously varied." "We make this promise as a company operating in America under the rule of law.
" Mabrey's comment that he has not always agreed with things the company does could show the efforts Palantir makes on policies that are supported by both Republicans and Democrats. The company landed government contracts under various presidents and political parties. Graham highlighted to another social media user that the point about protesting U.
S.-Israeli genocide should be a red flag and is why he was most critical of Palantir's new contract extension with ICE. Palantir stock has soared in the past year and the company was viewed as one of the many that could be favorable in a Trump administration with several connections to the company and the current presidential administration and donors.
Several Palantir co-founders endorsed Trump for the 2024 presidential election as well. PLTR Price Action: Palantir stock was down 3.18% to $90.
80 on Monday at market close versus a 52-week trading range of $20.36 to $125.41.
Palantir stock is up 20.8% year-to-date in 2025 and up over 300% in the past year. Read Next: Palantir’s S&P 500 Journey: Rebel Tech Giant Transforms Into ‘Frankenstein Monster Powered By Freak Show Leader’ Photo: slyellow via Shutterstock.
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