Politically, Democratic Rep. Gil Cisneros has made immigration central to his platform. He recently attempted to visit the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in California and has called for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after immigration-enforcement agents shot and killed a demonstrator in Minnesota.
“While ICE is out of control and operating without accountability, all of us are in danger. The Department of Homeland Security is supposed to protect the American people. But as long as Kristi Noem remains in charge, it is the biggest threat against the American people,” Cisneros wrote on X a day after Alex Pretti’s killing.
But personally, Cisneros is investing in the stock of a company that’s scored massive government contracts to create artificial-intelligence surveillance software for federal immigration-enforcement agencies.
The congressman from California purchased up to $75,000 worth of Palantir stock during 2025, according to a NOTUS review of congressional financial records. Palantir stock increased in value by more than 100% during that time.
“Well, I understand that’s not the only thing they do, they are involved in a lot of military work as well,” Cisneros told NOTUS on Wednesday when asked about his Palantir investments.
When asked if he believed there was any conflict between his investments and his positions on immigration, he said he did not believe there was — because he doesn’t manage his own investments.
“As I’ve said many times, I have a financial adviser, and you look at the size of my portfolio and you’ll understand why I have a financial adviser who makes all the decisions, and I trust him to do it,” Cisneros said. “The administration has a lot of things that they’re part of, whether they invest in Apple, invest in Microsoft, they’re also invested in Amazon and Intel.”
“So again, I trust my adviser. As I always say, I got very lucky in life and I want to be able to protect it,” he added.
Cisneros isn’t alone in his Palantir investments: Several Democratic lawmakers have disclosed buying a hundreds of thousands of dollars in Palantir stock combined as the company profits from President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration agenda.Rep. Cleo Fields of Louisiana, who has become one of Congress’s most prolific stock traders, recently called for Noem to be impeached because of her “abuse of authority,” “dangerous failure of leadership” and “betrayal of public trust.”
Fields also disclosed six purchases of Palantir stock last year together worth up to $765,000.
“I don’t have any thoughts on that,” Fields told NOTUS when asked Wednesday in the U.S. Capitol about his Palantir stock holdings.
After pausing a moment, Fields added: “Palantir, I wish I could get my money back, I wish I could get my money back.” He then walked into a crowded Capitol elevator.
Rep. Jonathan Jackson of Illinois criticized Trump’s threats to send the National Guard to Chicago and enhance immigration actions in the city.
“Trump has suggested turning U.S. cities into military training grounds and expanded ICE crackdowns on immigrants across the country,” he wrote on X in October.
In December, the congressman bought $15,000 to $50,000 in Palantir stock, as first noted by the Chicago Sun-Times. (Lawmakers are only required to disclose the values of their trades in broad ranges.)
Jackson told NOTUS he regretted buying this stock and that he asked his financial adviser to get rid of his Palantir holdings.
“I am absolutely embarrassed with that investment. That’s what my financial and professional counselor had done. And so, of course, we have made the ethical decision to hire that individual since I’ve been up here, and he made that decision which I recommend against,” Jackson said.
“Of course Palantir is bad, but they’re not doing it alone,” he added, arguing that other tech companies such as Microsoft have also collaborated with the Trump administration.
Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California who has also called on Noem to improve conditions in ICE detention centers and has called for the impeachment and prosecution of top immigration officials, disclosed that his spouse bought up to $125,000 in Palantir stock last year.
The largest Palantir purchase Khanna disclosed — worth up to $50,000 — came on April 22, days after Business Insider first reported that ICE contracted with Palantir to develop a tool called ImmigrationOS, which ICE could use to track “self-deportations” in “near real-time.”
Khanna’s office did not comment on the record for this story. In past conversations with NOTUS about his Nvidia stock holdings, Khanna has denied any conflict of interest, arguing that he does not have input in his wife’s stock portfolio that’s managed by a professional adviser.
Republican Reps. Lisa McClain, Jefferson Shreve, Rob Bresnahan and James Comer, who are generally supportive of Trump’s immigration policies, have also bought large amounts of Palantir stock in the last year.
While Palantir, a California-based military contractor, has long carried out contracts for the Department of Homeland Security, starting last spring, the company has secured over $80 million in contract obligations with ICE to develop advanced AI tools for federal immigration agents. The tools that Palantir has developed for ICE allow federal agents to access granular data about immigrants suspected to be in the U.S. illegally.
Palantir declined to speak on the record for this story.
The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or STOCK, Act requires lawmakers to submit to Congress signed and certified disclosures of stock trades within 45 days of a trade being made by either themselves or an immediate family member, such as a spouse or dependent child.
Numerous violations of the STOCK Act and mounting concern over conflicts of interest and insider trading have led to competing efforts in Congress to bar elected officials from buying and selling individual stocks.
One lawmaker — Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson of Texas — began selling off all of her individual stocks late last year amid scrutiny of her prolific stock trading.
But before her selling spree, Johnson, who is a critic of ICE’s immigration actions, disclosed buying Palantir stock twice last year, in January and in February. The total combined value: $2,000 to $30,000.
Later in 2025, she sold the same amount of her Palantir stock holding.
Asked Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol about her Palantir trades, Johnson replied, “no comment.”
The next day, her office sent NOTUS a statement from the congresswoman.
“During my time in Congress, I have been a relentless advocate for accountability from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, directly challenging Secretary Noem and DHS officials for denying due process and violating constitutional rights,” Johnson’s statement reads. “I voted against the Stop Illegal Entry Act, which increased mandatory minimums. I have supported getting immigrant children into homes instead of being placed in detention facilities.”
“As I have publicly stated, I began the process of divesting my holdings during my first year in Congress. All holdings were managed by independent money managers with total investment discretion to avoid any conflicts of interest with my work in Congress. I began divestiture in March of 2025, and all holdings of Palantir were sold by June of last year,” she added.
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