Extreme Vetting: Tech Companies Meet With ICE To Build Vetting Program

A number of major technology firms have met with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to discuss building a program to help implement President Donald Trump’s extreme vetting order, the Intercept reported.

IBM, research company LexisNexis, technology contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, auditing firm Deloittle, analytics software firm SAS, open-source software company Red Hat, data visualization and analysis company PlanetRisk, social media intelligence platform Babel Street and analytics firm Praescient Analytics all met with ICE, documents obtained by the Intercept showed.

Read: What Does Extreme Vetting Mean? Homeland Security Chief Suggests Requiring Social Media Passwords From Visa Applicants

The meetings with company officials took place on July 18 and 19 during an “industry day” hosted at the Crystal City Marriott in Arlington, Va. and were designed to encourage companies interested in building a platform to facilitate the “extreme vetting” program for immigrants and refugees proposed by the Trump administration.

While the event was initially planned for just one day, the “overwhelming response” from companies led to ICE hosting a second day of meetings with companies interested in securing a government contract.

IBM was criticized for its participation in the meetings by corporate watchdog group SumOfUs. In a statement provided to International Business Times, SumOfUs campaign manager Nicole Carty said “IBM’s enthusiasm in building an advanced computer system to operationalize Trump’s ‘extreme vetting’ policy is a sick display of moral bankruptcy and corporate greed.”

According to a document titled “Extreme Vetting Initiative,” ICE requires a new vetting system that “automates, centralizes, and streamlines the current manual vetting process.” The agency also hoped to automate some of its determinations made on those entering the country when possible.

The data-mining initiative would help alleviate the current backlog ICE has amassed as it attempts to manually implement new requirements for vetting as defined by executive orders signed by President Trump. The agency claims its current system has proven inadequate due to fragmentation and complexities within the immigration system.

Read: Extreme Vetting: US Visa Applicants Asked To Disclose Social Media Handles, Email Addresses

While the primary mission of the program is to automate some of the tasks currently done manually by ICE, the agency also wants to companies to build software that can make judgements matters that would seem quite subjective.

For instance, ICE told companies it wants a system that can “determine and evaluate an applicant’s probability of becoming a positively contributing member of society, as well as their ability to contribute to national interests” and predict “whether an applicant intends to commit criminal or terrorist acts after entering the United States.”

It is unclear how a program could make such determinations, though from the actions of the Trump administration and the rhetoric of then-candidate Trump while on the campaign trail, it is possible the system would take a closer look at the social media profiles of prospective visitors to the U.S.

In a hearing in February, former Homeland Security chief and current chief of staff John Kelly told Congress the U.S. was considering requiring visa applicants to disclose passwords to their social media accounts so the contents of those accounts—including messages—could be examined.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration also moved forward with a new requirement for Visa applicants that asks for those looking to enter the U.S. disclose any social media handles and email addresses associated with them.