Lawmakers Say Black And Brown Citizens Are At Risk As ICE Acknowledges Use Of Spyware

ICE's acting director, Todd Lyons, sent a letter shortly before the Easter holiday confirming the group uses a number of tools to disrupt and dismantle foreign terrorist organizations, but Lee says it's being used for other purposes.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has admitted to using spyware tools that have the power to intercept encrypted messages to target fentanyl traffickers, but Rep. Summer Lee is highlighting how Black and Brown citizens will be the ones at risk.

In a statement from the Democratic lawmaker from Pennsylvania, she called the ICE agency out for avoiding the privacy concerns handed down by members of Congress before greenlighting what she labeled as “the invasive spyware technology inside the United States.” Lee pinpointed who she feels are the real victims of such spyware as Graphite, owned by the Israeli company Paragon Solutions — Black and brown people. “The people most at risk, including immigrants, Black and brown communities, journalists, organizers, and anyone speaking out against government abuse, deserve more than secrecy and deflection from an agency with a long record of overreach and abuse,” she wrote in a press release posted to her website.

According to NPR, the agency’s acting director, Todd Lyons, sent a letter shortly before the Easter holiday confirming the group uses a number of tools to disrupt and dismantle foreign terrorist organizations, “particularly those involved in the trafficking of fentanyl.”

Lyons approved the Graphite contract for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to use what is known as “zero click” technology to access encrypted messages on a targeted device, even if the user never clicks a link.

It was Graphite that was called out in early 2025 for targeting 90 journalists and members of civil society in a number of countries. Researchers at The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy later revealed specific journalists and humanitarian aid providers in Italy had devices infected with the spyware in WhatsApp messages.

Such instances prompted Lee to call for moments of transparency. “Constitutional rights do not disappear because this administration wants more surveillance power, and fear tactics cannot be used as a way to sidestep accountability, privacy, and due process,” she continued.

“I will keep demanding transparency and fighting to protect the civil liberties of everyone in this country because no government gets to cast aside our rights when they become inconvenient, and I will not stand by while this administration treats the Constitution as a mere suggestion.”

Subject matter experts like Maria Villegas Bravo, a lawyer with the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center, said the U.S. has failed to put regulations in place that can “stop the U.S. government from abusing Constitutional and human rights in the process of using this technology.”

An unidentified DHS official defended the usage, saying that as a law enforcement agency, such tools have to be in place. “DHS is a law enforcement agency. ICE is no different,” the official said.

“Employing various forms of technology in support of investigations and law enforcement activities aids in the arrest of criminal gang members, child sex offenders, murderers, drug dealers, identity thieves, and more, all while respecting civil liberties and privacy interests.”

Villegas Bravo touched on Graphite placing the nation in a position to heighten the market for technologies exploited by foreign governments to undermine messaging applications’ privacy and conduct invasive phone surveillance. “This is a grave national security risk because it weakens American critical infrastructure, including our telecommunications networks,” Villegas Bravo said.