Thomson Reuters operates CLEAR, a law enforcement investigative database that provides ICE with access to vast troves of personal data. CLEAR is one of the primary data broker platforms feeding ICE’s surveillance and enforcement operations, alongside LexisNexis Accurint.

What CLEAR Provides ICE

CLEAR gives ICE access to:

• Names, addresses, Social Security numbers
• Car registration information and license plate recognition data
• Ethnicity information
• Social media posts
• Live cellphone records
• Arrest records
• Health-care provider information
• Real-time geolocation data
• Utility records (power, water, gas – used to locate people at current addresses)
• Property records

Current Contracts

• Thomson Reuters Special Services: Five-year, $22.8 million contract with DHS for ICE’s use of a “law enforcement investigative database subscription.” The 2025 option explicitly notes “provision of license plate reader data.” Expires 2026.
• West Publishing (Thomson Reuters subsidiary): $1.7 million contract with DHS for ICE use of CLEAR (April 2023), with a $1.9 million option exercised March 2025.

Historical Spending

Between 2003 and 2021, Thomson Reuters contracts with DHS amounted to at least $161 million.

How CLEAR Feeds Palantir

Thomson Reuters data flows into Palantir’s systems. CLEAR provides the raw data – addresses, phone records, utility connections – that Palantir’s algorithms then analyze to generate targeting profiles and confidence scores for ICE enforcement operations.

Opposition and Accountability

• ACLU and Georgetown Law Center on Privacy and Technology have documented Thomson Reuters’ role as a data broker for ICE.
• Employee opposition: Thomson Reuters employees in Eagan, Minnesota have criticized the company’s ICE contracts.
• Union shareholder campaigns: Union shareholders have pressured Thomson Reuters to review and potentially end its ICE contracts.
• Municipal pushback: In July 2025, the Denver City Council delayed approval of a CLEAR database subscription amid concerns about ICE access.
• Thomson Reuters conducted a review of its ICE contract in 2022 following Washington Post reporting but has continued the relationship.

Sources

• In These Times: Data Brokers Fueling ICE’s Deportation Machine
• 404 Media: How Thomson Reuters Powers ICE and Palantir
• Star Tribune: Thomson Reuters criticized over ICE contract
• The Tyee: Union pressures Thomson Reuters (March 2026)
• NoTechForICE: Thomson Reuters refines target lists
• Washington Post: Thomson Reuters to review ICE contract (2022)
• Denverite: Denver CLEAR database approval delayed (July 2025)
• AFSC Investigate: Thomson Reuters
• Georgetown COPT: Data Broker to Deportation Pipeline