ICE seeks new deal with Microsoft, Amazon

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is planning new large-scale expenditures on cloud computing with Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Web Services unit. The deal, slated for early 2021, could could reignite tensions within the companies, where groups of employees have objected to working with agencies that have presided over family separations and raids targeting undocumented immigrants.

ICE officials are in the market for “cloud infrastructure hosting in AWS and Microsoft Azure environments,” according to a Homeland Security Department website listing upcoming contracting opportunities. The agency is looking for a thirdparty contractor to manage its existing systems stored in AWS and Microsoft cloud computing infrastructure, as well as to expand its access to new cloud services offered by both companies.

The estimated price tag of the project is at least $100 million over five years. Microsoft representatives declined to comment on thematter; representatives for Amazon and ICE didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Immigrant rights groups have criticized SiliconValley forworking with the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE andU.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP.

A 2018 report commissioned by the National Immigration Project, the Immigrant Defense Project, and Mijente, accused Microsoft and Amazon of supporting ICE operations by storing databases used to profile suspected undocumented immigrants. The groups also criticized

Amazon for offering third-party cloud services to companies like Palantir Technologies Inc., which holds data-mining contracts with ICE.

In July 2018 more than 100 Microsoft employees penned an open letter to chief executive officer Satya Nadella demanding that the company “cancel its contracts with ICE, and with other clients who directly enable ICE.”

SomeAmazonemployeeshave also objected to their company’s relationship with ICE, which comes by way of its partnership with Palantir.