The acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told lawmakers that he purchased and used spyware from Paragon Solutions in drug trafficking cases, according to a letter obtained by TechCrunch.
In a letter to three members of Congress, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons referenced spyware, saying he had authorized the agency's criminal investigation division, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), to use “cutting-edge technological tools” to combat “the active exploitation of encrypted communications platforms by foreign terrorist organizations.”
The inability of law enforcement to access encrypted data is often cited as a justification for the need to use computer and mobile phone spyware in serious criminal cases. Because spyware allows you to retrieve data directly from your personal device. Critics and human rights activists have long pointed to a growing list of journalists, politicians and civil society members whose phones have been hacked by governments using commercial spyware.
In his letter, Lyons said ICE's use of spyware was “consistent with constitutional requirements” and “HSI has demonstrated that its operational use of certain tools does not pose a significant security or counterintelligence risk or a significant risk of unauthorized use by foreign governments or persons.”
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Bloomberg first reported ICE's letter to lawmakers.
ICE signed a contract with U.S.-Israeli spyware maker Paragon Solutions in 2024, but the deal was quickly suspended by the Biden administration to ensure the company complied with an executive order restricting U.S. government agencies from using spyware that could target Americans abroad or violate human rights.
In September 2025, ICE lifted the block and reinstated the contract. But until now, it was unclear whether ICE had any plans to use Paragon's spyware.
The spyware maker has been embroiled in a wide-ranging scandal in Italy, where it emerged last year that journalists and pro-immigration activists had been targeted by Paragon's Graphite spyware. In response, Paragon blocked the use of its spyware tools by Italian intelligence agencies.
When asked for comment, Democratic Rep. Summer Lee, one of the members of Congress who requested information from ICE, told TechCrunch that ICE is currently “developing invasive spyware technology in the United States.”
“Instead of answering the serious constitutional and civil rights concerns we have raised, DHS is asking the public to accept vague assurances and fear-based justifications,” he added.
“Those most at risk, including immigrants, Black and brown communities, journalists, organizers, and those speaking out against government abuses, deserve more than secrecy and deviation from a government agency with a long track record of overreach and abuse,” Lee said.
Paragon and ICE did not respond to TechCrunch's requests for comment and questions about the agency's use of spyware.