Surveillance systems on top of the US-Mexico border wall in Baja California, Mexico, on February 5, 2025.(Guillermo Arias / AFP via Getty Images)

The Committee to Restore Trust, representing approximately 200 Thomson Reuters employees, issued a statement today condemning their company’s deal with the US government to seek “voter fraud” and “immigration fraud” data. The statement reads as follows:

The Committee to Restore Trust finds this latest contract between DHS/ICE and TRSS (Thomson Reuters Special Services) to support the “presidential mandate of the identification of Voters Fraud, Immigration Fraud and National Security” deeply troubling. Numerous sources have reported human rights abuses by ICE and DHS agents during Operation Metro Surge and around the country. We ask the company to refrain from further business with DHS and ICE until an independent board audits and reviews their usage of public records applications in 2026. For context, the only audits Thomson Reuters confirms are from 2025, prior to Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis. Furthermore, we encourage executive leadership to cancel existing contracts, speak out publicly against ICE’s violent campaign of terror, and use their platform to demand ICE leave our cities.

In a response to questions posed to Thomson Reuters, the company said, “As part of Thomson Reuters alignment with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), we conduct company-wide HRSA/HRIAs every three years.” Based upon this schedule, the events of Operation Metro Surge (2026) in Minneapolis will not be assessed until December 2028. The company further responded, “As a matter of policy, we do not comment on specific customer contracts, and questions about an agency’s mission and priorities are best directed to that agency.”

The $125 million deal between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its enforcement arm, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Thomson Reuters extends over a five-year period. This deal represents the first time that DHS/ICE has agreed with a data broker specifically to investigate voter fraud.

Thomson Reuters’ flagship investigative platform CLEAR already contains voter-registration data. Some states apparently include address, license plate and phone numbers, and even party affiliation, though data varies by state. Voter data is legally regulated, and CLEAR users are supposed to confirm a legally permissible use of the data in order to access it. This new presidential mandate and DHS/ICE ostensibly make a new case for the use of this data by immigration officials.

The company’s response: “We continue to work with our customers to provide technology and services that support investigations into areas of national security and public safety, such as child exploitation, human trafficking, narcotics and weapons trafficking, fraud and financial crime.”

Technology provided by Thomson Reuters continues to be used to round up immigrants in Minneapolis. According to a network of rapid responders made up of concerned citizens, a total of 358 individuals were detained in recent weeks, two-thirds with no criminal record. Detentions at Walmart stores and gas stations are now most common, as ICE agents pull back on controversial traffic stops. (Two US citizens were shot to death in January in the course of such stops.)

“ICE activity is ongoing and neighborhoods are continuing to organize in keeping each other safe,” says a TR employee, withholding their name for fear of retribution. That fear is real. On March 20, TR senior legal editor and Committee to Restore Trust cofounder Billie Little was fired for a so-called breach of the company code of conduct. (In response to a question about the status of the Little case, Thomson Reuters said, “We strongly dispute the allegations and will robustly defend the case. As this relates to an individual employment matter, it would be inappropriate the comment further.”)

In addition, the US Department of Justice is pursuing criminal charges, subpoenas, and conspiracy indictments against individuals, activists, and local political figures who document, track, or allegedly obstruct ICE operations. These federal enforcement and surveillance actions have escalated during high-profile crackdowns, drawing intense legal battles over First Amendment rights.

Voter-registration data may be the latest front in the White House campaign to instill distrust in the election process in the public mind leading up to the November elections, as well as to foster popular suspicion of the immigrant population.

According to the White House, “Following the 2020 presidential election, concerns about potential irregularities prompted detailed examinations of voting processes, data security, and registration practices across multiple states.” However, after extensive review by state and local elections officials, no significant irregularities have been identified.