{"id":1374,"date":"2026-08-08T17:34:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:34:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:34:01","slug":"ice-and-data-centers-arent-new-but-face-growing-pushback-as-they-intertwine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374","title":{"rendered":"ICE and Data Centers Aren\u2019t New, But Face Growing Pushback as They Intertwine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n

Truthout is a vital news source and a living history of political struggle. If you think our work is valuable, <\/span><\/i>support us with a donation<\/span><\/i> of any size.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more New Mexico Court Fines Meta $567 Million for Harming Kids<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On July 13, residents of Neptune Township, New Jersey, voted to ban AI data centers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) jails from being built in their town. While protests against the construction of AI data centers and ICE facilities have increased since Donald Trump\u2019s reelection, the Neptune Township ordinance is the first in the U.S. reflecting a connection between the deportation regime and Big Tech.<\/p>\n

Neptune residents\u2019 move to oppose technofascism in their town also demonstrates the potential to form new coalitions, powered by grassroots organizing, for more democratic participation in local development. Ben Dziobek, executive director of Climate Revolution Action Network (CRAN), a New Jersey-based organization that helped mobilize support for the bans, told Insider NJ<\/em>, \u201cBanning ICE detention centers is the same fight as banning data centers \u2026 Neptune is deciding what it wants built in its town and what it doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, the current upsurge in demonstrations against AI data centers and ICE immigrant jails is not in response to new phenomena. On the one hand, tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft have been building data centers for years, mostly to warehouse large amounts of data that governments, corporations, and consumers use for digital storage. However, the construction and operation of these new AI data centers raise questions about the undemocratic nature of economic development and Big Tech. Elon Musk\u2019s xAI bypassed federal environmental regulations to build gas turbines for its Tennessee facilities. Meta worked covertly with some of Louisiana\u2019s state elected officials to plan and build AI centers. And Trump, in his second term, has sought to restrict local and state regulation of AI, further greasing the skids for construction. These data centers pose environmental, health, and economic threats to residents and workers. They are linked to noise pollution and exorbitant levels of water and electric usage \u2014 and residents have complained of increases in utility bills.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, ICE has relied on a network of hundreds of facilities since its formation in 2003. According to a 2024 Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse report on immigration, ICE held nearly 40,000 adults at the end of Joe Biden\u2019s presidential term in January 2025. The Trump administration has sought to dramatically escalate ICE arrests and detentions to enact its white nationalist immigration agenda.<\/p>\n

This craven drive to detain and deport as many immigrants as possible is fueling this administration\u2019s attempts to expand its network of camps, including by converting closed prisons and warehouses into ICE facilities. Florida\u2019s infamous South Florida Detention Center, also known as \u201cAlligator Alcatraz,\u201d is one of the most prominent examples of a swiftly built detention camp enacting this administration\u2019s cruel immigration policy. People detained there complained of the inhumane conditions in which they were held, saying that they faced overflowing toilets and were denied prescribed medication and adequate food.<\/p>\n

This prison, like some of the AI data centers, also threatens ecosystems and several endangered species in the Everglades. The construction of the South Florida Detention Center generated protests from Floridians and others opposing the construction of the facility and the conditions inside. In fact, protesters gathered for \u201cFreedom Vigils\u201d outside of \u201cAlligator Alcatraz\u201d every Sunday since August 2025. The political and legal pressure from protesters, people being detained, environmental and civil rights groups, and elected officials forced its closure in June 2026.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Issues \u201cBirth Tourism\u201d Orders Following Birthright Citizenship SCOTUS Loss<\/a><\/p>\n

The movement to stop data centers and detention camps during Trump\u2019s second term has been relatively successful. Between March and June 2025, protests helped delay or stop 20 data center projects, Kristin Toussaint from Fast Company<\/em> reports. Opposition to AI data centers continues to stymie Big Tech in 2026. Between January and March of this year, people across the U.S., from Arizona to Virginia, have obstructed or blocked more than $130 billion in data center development.<\/p>\n

On the surface, the fight against data centers and detention camps might seem unrelated. However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) touts its use of AI in immigration enforcement on its website. Tech companies have forged relationships with DHS and ICE to assist in immigration enforcement. Spotify, to much outrage from listeners, ran recruitment advertisements for ICE. The federal government awarded Palantir a $30 million contract last year to develop an \u201cImmigrationOS\u201d surveillance platform to track people suspected to be undocumented. Palantir\u2019s Enhanced Leads Identification & Targeting for Enforcement (\u201cELITE\u201d) app tracks and maps people targeted by ICE. And surely, immigrants are not the only people that ICE targets using these apps, as one Minneapolis activist suspected that ICE used these apps to surveil them as well. New data centers would surely help support DHS and ICE\u2019s use of AI in immigration enforcement and the squashing of dissent. And, if DHS\u2019s and ICE\u2019s uses of AI are not enough, former acting ICE Director Todd Lyons articulated a sinister aspiration for the expansion of the U.S.\u2019s deportation machine through neoliberal and technofacist rhetoric. Lyons said at the Border Security Expo in Phoenix in 2025 that the U.S. needed \u201cto get better at treating this [deportation] like a business.\u201d The country needs to build a system that operates \u201clike [Amazon] Prime, but with human beings,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

This relationship between tech companies and federal and state governments in constructing and fortifying immigration enforcement highlights further threats to rights of Americans, undocumented people, and to nature. CRAN demonstrates their understanding of this relationship on its website. The organization points to Palantir Chair Peter Thiel\u2019s disdain for democracy and billionaire Larry Ellison\u2019s musings about using AI to police everyone to illustrate how Big Tech seeks to use generative artificial intelligence to plunder communities of resources, accumulate capital, consolidate political power, surveil people, and conduct destructive wars. This presidential administration has proven that it is a willing partner in this endeavor.<\/p>\n

Neptune residents\u2019 and the Climate Revolution Action Network\u2019s fight against data centers and detention camps underscores how the struggle for democracy extends beyond voting in elections every two and four years. This battle against AI data centers is also about how local communities should invest public resources. As organizers Astra Taylor and Saul Levin stated about the data center opposition: \u201cIt\u2019s about who controls the economy and whether regular people have a say in the decisions that affect them.\u201d Neptune\u2019s refusal to build these centers and CRAN\u2019s statewide struggle to ban data centers in New Jersey contribute another model for fighting undemocratic AI data centers and ICE facilities and to assert a more humane vision for development.<\/p>\n

Few people should want to live in the shadow of energy-sucking and noisy AI data centers with their neighbors living in fear of ICE kidnapping. This sentiment about economic development applies to policing, immigration, and citizenship. The communities that are opposing ICE detention camps are refusing complicity in this administration\u2019s deportation regime. And many opponents of these detention centers are demanding a more expansive understanding of citizenship that might not include an undocumented person\u2019s ability to vote in elections, but a community life that supports their human rights as workers and residents. It is time that all of us see these struggles as linked and as part of a larger vision that rejects undemocratic development and tech-fueled policing.<\/p>\n

Read more Palantir Paid No Federal Income Tax. Its Global Tax Rate Is Just 1.4 Percent.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A New Jersey township ordinance is the first in the US reflecting the link between the deportation regime and Big Tech.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nICE and Data Centers Aren\u2019t New, But Face Growing Pushback as They Intertwine - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ICE and Data Centers Aren\u2019t New, But Face Growing Pushback as They Intertwine - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A New Jersey township ordinance is the first in the US reflecting the link between the deportation regime and Big Tech.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T17:34:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1374#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1374\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"ICE and Data Centers Aren\u2019t New, But Face Growing Pushback as They Intertwine\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-08T17:34:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1374\"},\"wordCount\":1279,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1374#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1374\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1374\",\"name\":\"ICE and Data Centers Aren\u2019t New, But Face Growing Pushback as They Intertwine - Smart Moving Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-08T17:34:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1374#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1374\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1374#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"ICE and Data Centers Aren\u2019t New, But Face Growing Pushback as They Intertwine\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Smart Moving Home\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ICE and Data Centers Aren\u2019t New, But Face Growing Pushback as They Intertwine - Smart Moving Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ICE and Data Centers Aren\u2019t New, But Face Growing Pushback as They Intertwine - Smart Moving Home","og_description":"A New Jersey township ordinance is the first in the US reflecting the link between the deportation regime and Big Tech.","og_url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374","og_site_name":"Smart Moving Home","article_published_time":"2026-08-08T17:34:01+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"headline":"ICE and Data Centers Aren\u2019t New, But Face Growing Pushback as They Intertwine","datePublished":"2026-08-08T17:34:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374"},"wordCount":1279,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374","name":"ICE and Data Centers Aren\u2019t New, But Face Growing Pushback as They Intertwine - Smart Moving Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-08-08T17:34:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1374#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ICE and Data Centers Aren\u2019t New, But Face Growing Pushback as They Intertwine"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/","name":"Smart Moving Home","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/smartmovinghome.com"],"url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}