Maine plaintiffs allege DHS logged ICE observers in Palantir-built ICM

A redacted preliminary-injunction motion in Hilton v. Noem became public on Oct. 2, 2026. The four plaintiffs allege that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents recorded people observing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Maine in January and entered some identifying information into Investigative Case Management (ICM), a system built by Palantir. The motion is the plaintiffs’ request for relief, not a court finding.

What the motion alleges

The motion, dated Sept. 11, describes agents photographing observers, recording vehicle license plates, seeking personal information and creating ICM records. It also alleges that agents used threats and other conduct intended to discourage people from observing immigration enforcement.

The case is a proposed class action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine. Its four named plaintiffs are Elinor Hilton, Colleen Fagan, Polyxenia Pantos and Carlyn Williams.

How ICM and TECS are connected

ICM is a case-management system used by Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE component, to document investigations. Palantir built ICM using its Gotham software.

A 2016 DHS privacy assessment described ICM subject records as automatically shared with Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) TECS system, where they can function as traveler-screening lookout records. The motion discusses ICM and TECS records associated with Williams and alleges that they contributed to a secondary inspection.

The motion also alleges that a CBP officer used Mobile Query, a CBP phone app, to run facial-recognition searches on photographs of observers. Mobile Query is distinct from ICM.

The Maine encounters described in the motion

The motion says Operation Catch of the Day began in Maine on Jan. 20, 2026. It describes Polyxenia Pantos observing and photographing an arrest in Portland that day. On Jan. 21, the motion says Elinor Hilton filmed an enforcement operation in a Home Depot parking lot and alleges agents filmed and threatened observers there.

The motion further alleges that Pantos and Williams were detained for about an hour at the Jackman Border Crossing on March 16, while returning from Quebec. It describes Williams’s ICM and TECS records in connection with the border encounter.

DHS’s position and what the plaintiffs seek

DHS disputes the plaintiffs’ characterization of the case. The department says the conduct was isolated and prohibited by policy, and denies maintaining a separate database of U.S. citizens who protest ICE.

The plaintiffs ask the court to archive or alter Williams’s ICM and CBP records, bar adverse action based on information collected about them, and prohibit specified practices in Maine, including watchlist threats and agents leading observers to their homes.