Palantir CEO Alex Karp has acknowledged that he has been voicing criticism of President Trump's immigration policies behind closed doors, even as his company holds lucrative federal contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In an interview with Politico's Adam Wren, Karp said he was pleased to hear Trump admit that his administration may have overreached. "I'm really happy to hear the president, you know, in his words: 'yeah, we kind of went too far,'" Karp said. "I have been saying in private... One, you can't explain to the American people that we deserve to be 20 times wealthy. You've heard this, blah blah blah. Two, there are different kinds of progressives. Three, I am someone who believes in very controlled migration but it has to be humanely done and competently done."
Karp emphasized that the American public expects fairness and clarity in immigration enforcement. "You have to be super competent and it has to be fair and explainable to the average American person," he said. He also pointed to former President Obama's approach as a model, noting that "President Obama, who we supported also in that context did very well in like having a migration policy that people bought into."
His comments come after Trump recently suggested his deportation policies might have been "too tough" following the GOP's losses in the midterm elections. ICE has faced intense scrutiny for detaining a record number of individuals over the summer and expanding enforcement to include noncriminals in September. The agency's tactics, including arrests at airports, have drawn criticism from Democrats and even some Republicans, with some lawmakers calling for its abolition.
Karp's firm, Palantir, which he co-founded with Peter Thiel, holds over $900 million in federal contracts with ICE and other agencies, providing identification technologies that have been used in enforcement operations. The company has been the subject of a congressional probe led by Reps. Daniel Goldman and Nydia Velázquez and Sen. Ron Wyden, who cited reports that Palantir's platforms contribute to a "mass surveillance ecosystem" that may target U.S. citizens.
Despite the controversy, Karp maintains that his private counsel aligns with his public stance. "I'm glad he's saying in public now, what I've been saying in private and we will see what happens," he said, expressing hope that the administration will recalibrate its approach.
The intersection of Palantir's business interests and its CEO's political commentary highlights the delicate balance tech leaders face when their companies profit from government policies they may privately question. As the debate over immigration enforcement continues, Karp's remarks add a notable voice from within the tech industry that has often been silent on such issues.
