ICE Seeks Large New Cloud Contract Involving Microsoft, Amazon
The companies have faced internal pushback for cooperating with immigration enforcement.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is planning new large-scale expenditures on cloud computing with Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Web Services unit. The deal, slated for early 2021, could could reignite tensions within the companies, where groups of employees have objected to working with agencies that have presided over family separations and raids targeting undocumented immigrants.
ICE officials are in the market for “cloud infrastructure hosting in AWS and Microsoft Azure environments,” according to a Homeland Security Department website listing upcoming contracting opportunities. The agency is looking for a third-party contractor to manage its existing systems stored in AWS and Microsoft cloud computing infrastructure, as well as to expand its access to new cloud services offered by both companies.