As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intensified its arrest and deportation operations over the past year, the agency’s dependence on Microsoft’s cloud technology surged, according to leaked documents obtained by The Guardian and its partners +972 Magazine and Local Call.
In the six months leading up to January 2026, ICE more than tripled the amount of data it stored on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, the files show. This period coincided with a significant budget increase and rapid workforce expansion at the agency, as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.
The documents indicate that ICE is using a wide array of Microsoft’s productivity tools and AI-driven products to search, analyze, and manage the vast troves of data it holds in Azure. Some of ICE’s own systems and applications appear to be running directly on Microsoft servers.
The revelations raise ethical and legal questions about whether Microsoft’s technology is enabling an agency that has faced accusations of unlawful operations and excessive use of force. ICE has been described by critics as a domestic surveillance agency, with access to extensive personal data and a growing arsenal of surveillance tools, including facial recognition apps, phone location databases, drones, and invasive spyware.
Budget Boom and Tech Spending
In July 2025, ICE received a $75 billion budget increase, making it the most well-funded law enforcement agency in the United States. With this unprecedented financial boost, the agency has embarked on a technology spending spree, awarding contracts to major firms like Palantir and Microsoft, as well as smaller providers.
Both Amazon and Microsoft have long served as technology providers to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In recent months, they have benefited from multi-million dollar deals brokered by third-party resellers.
Explosive Growth in Cloud Storage
According to the leaked files, ICE held nearly 1,400 terabytes of data on Microsoft’s Azure platform in January 2026—up from 400 terabytes in July 2025. If the stored data consisted solely of photographs, it would amount to approximately 490 million images.
The agency is also using Azure’s “blob storage” for raw data, as well as AI tools for image and video analysis and text translation. ICE is renting virtual machines on Azure to run software remotely, and has expanded its use of Microsoft’s productivity suite, which includes document management tools and an AI chatbot.
Microsoft’s Position and Employee Concerns
Microsoft has stated that it “provides cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools to DHS and ICE, delivered through our key partners.” The company insists that its policies “do not allow our technology to be used for the mass surveillance of civilians,” and that it does not believe ICE is engaged in such activity.
However, Microsoft employees have raised concerns about the company’s relationship with ICE. In December 2025, after internal ethics reports, Microsoft initially claimed it had no contracts supporting immigration enforcement. It later clarified that it does have contracts with ICE and DHS, but “does not presently maintain AI services contracts tied specifically to enforcement activities.”
Broader Industry Backlash
Microsoft is not alone in facing employee and activist pressure over its work with federal immigration agencies. Amazon and Google have also been targeted by protests and petitions from workers demanding that the companies sever ties with ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“DHS is violating civil and national law as well as civil and human rights,” reads a recent petition signed by over 1,300 Google employees. “We must end our complicity in powering them.”
Source: The Guardian
