U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is moving forward with a $2 million contract with Israeli-founded Paragon Solutions, giving immigration agents access to one of the world’s most advanced spyware tools.
The Department of Homeland Security initially signed a contract with Paragon, now owned by a U.S. firm, in late 2024 under the Biden administration. The $2 million deal was temporarily put on hold for a compliance review to ensure it followed an executive order limiting U.S. government use of spyware.
That pause has now been lifted, according to public procurement documents, which list ICE as the contracting agency.
Journalist Jack Poulson first reported the contract modification that lifted Biden’s stop-work order. He noted that the contract was likely reinstated following significant changes at Paragon since it was frozen in October 2024, including the company’s shift to American ownership, which removed the conflict with the Biden administration’s executive order.
Paragon’s flagship spyware, Graphite, can covertly infiltrate phones, bypass encryption, and monitor apps like WhatsApp and Signal. It can also activate a device’s microphone for live surveillance.
Neither ICE nor Paragon has commented on the report.
