NYC pension fund shares in ICE-linked Palantir grew and saw windfalls under former Comptroller Lander, disclosures show

Former City Comptroller and current congressional candidate Brad Lander oversaw a major expansion of New York City public pension fund investments in Palantir Technologies, a data analytics firm whose software has long been used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to identify and deport undocumented immigrants.

During Lander’s tenure as the city’s chief financial officer, the city’s five public pension funds significantly increased their exposure to Palantir, according to an amNewYork review of pension fund disclosures. Between 2022 and 2024, the funds more than tripled the value of their Palantir holdings, rising from approximately $17.6 million to about $56.6 million.

The increase comes as Lander — a vocal critic of ICE who has protested immigration enforcement at Federal Plaza and has been arrested multiple times while observing immigration court proceedings — challenges U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman in the Democratic primary for New York’s 10th Congressional District, which covers parts of lower Manhattan and northern Brooklyn.

City pension funds had reduced their Palantir holdings between June 2021 and June 2022. Lander took office as comptroller in January 2022, and public disclosures do not indicate whether those transactions occurred before or after he assumed the role. Following that period, however, the funds reversed course and sharply increased their investments in the company.

The largest growth occurred within the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS), which provides pensions for public school educators. As of June 2024, TRS’s Palantir holdings across its Qualified Pension Plan (QPP) and Tax-Deferred Annuity (TDA) accounts totaled roughly $10.9 million. By June 2025, those combined holdings had surged to approximately $60.8 million — exceeding the total value of Palantir investments held across all five city pension funds just one year earlier.

Brad Lander is grappled by ICE agents inside 26 Federal Plaza, June 17, 2025.Photo by Dean Moses

In response, Lander’s campaign emphasized the legal constraints governing pension fund investments and drew a distinction between his role as comptroller and his political positions.

“Brad has been a tireless fighter against ICE,” said Lauren Hitt, a spokesperson for Lander’s campaign. “He has been at Federal Plaza every week, personally overseeing immigration proceedings and working to prevent the kidnapping of our neighbors. While Brad’s fiduciary duty as comptroller and the limitations of the five pension funds’ investment policies prevented him from using the pension fund and our teachers’ retirement system as a political tool, in Congress, he will work aggressively to stop Palantir and others from aiding Trump’s inhumane immigration policy.”

Goldman’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.

The pensions and Palantir

As of June 30, 2025, the comptroller, working alongside the pension systems’ trustees, oversaw $294.6 billion in assets supporting more than 750,000 current and retired public servants. The five pension funds reported a net return of 10.3% for the fiscal year, surpassing their 7% actuarial target.

Lander served a four-year term as comptroller beginning in January 2022, after spending 12 years on the City Council. His public opposition to ICE dates back to the first Trump administration.

As a council member, Lander joined a digital picket line in 2019 backing labor actions urging Amazon to “stop abusing workers and cut ties with ICE.” At the time, Amazon Web Services hosted Department of Homeland Security databases used in immigration enforcement and was considering expanding its role to include biometric databases containing identifiers such as eye color, tattoos, and other personal data.

“I wonder if ICE is using facial-recognition software supplied by Amazon for their surveillance of protests in our city,” Lander wrote on X on March 6, 2019.

More recently, during the mayoral race, Lander drew international attention after he was arrested by ICE agents outside an immigration courtroom at 26 Federal Plaza while observing proceedings.

Palantir has played a central role in federal immigration enforcement since 2013. Lander has made opposition to Trump-era immigration policies a central theme of his congressional campaign. In his launch video, he said, “When ICE agents started kidnapping our neighbors, I fought back,” referring to his arrest at Federal Plaza.

Palantir’s role in immigration enforcement has been extensively documented. Internal government and company records obtained and reported by The Guardian show that Palantir’s platforms have been used to integrate vast quantities of federal and private data — including travel records, license scans, and other personal information — into tools that help ICE agents track individuals and coordinate enforcement operations.

As comptroller, Lander serves as custodian of the city’s five pension funds and has repeatedly said investment decisions must be guided by fiduciary obligations rather than political considerations. While the comptroller acts as custodian, investment decisions are made in coordination with the pension systems’ boards of trustees and external asset managers.

Lander’s tenure also saw pension boards wrestle with other contentious investment decisions. Late last year, he publicly urged trustees to rebid major mandates with asset managers BlackRock and Fidelity — not because of returns but for what he described as inadequate decarbonization plans under the city’s Net Zero policy. Trustees ultimately tabled that decision.

The Palantir investments echo earlier reporting by the New York Daily News , which found that pension fund holdings overseen by Lander — including investments in an Israeli arms manufacturer — have complicated his campaign messaging as he seeks to position himself as a more uncompromising progressive than Goldman, particularly on issues related to immigration and Israel.