![\"City](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/brad-lander-campaign-launch-lloyd-mitchell.jpg\" "\\"NYC")
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Former City Comptroller Brad Lander at the launch of his congressional campaign on Dec. 10 <\/p>\n
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell <\/p>\n
Former City Comptroller and current congressional candidate Brad Lander<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n During Lander\u2019s tenure as the city\u2019s chief financial officer, the city\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n The increase comes as Lander \u2014 a vocal critic of ICE who has protested immigration enforcement at Federal Plaza<\/a> and has been arrested multiple times while observing immigration court proceedings<\/a> \u2014 challenges U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman in the Democratic primary<\/a> for New York\u2019s 10th Congressional District, which covers parts of lower Manhattan and northern Brooklyn.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The largest growth occurred within the Teachers\u2019 Retirement System (TRS), which provides pensions for public school educators. As of June 2024, TRS\u2019s 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 \u2014 exceeding the total value of Palantir investments held across all five city pension funds just one year earlier.<\/p>\n In response, Lander\u2019s campaign emphasized the legal constraints governing pension fund investments and drew a distinction between his role as comptroller and his political positions.<\/p>\n \u201cBrad has been a tireless fighter against ICE,\u201d said Lauren Hitt, a spokesperson for Lander\u2019s campaign. \u201cHe has been at Federal Plaza every week, personally overseeing immigration proceedings and working to prevent the kidnapping of our neighbors. While Brad\u2019s fiduciary duty as comptroller and the limitations of the five pension funds\u2019 investment policies prevented him from using the pension fund and our teachers\u2019 retirement system as a political tool, in Congress, he will work aggressively to stop Palantir and others from aiding Trump\u2019s inhumane immigration policy.\u201d<\/p>\n Goldman\u2019s campaign did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.\n<\/p>\n The pensions and Palantir<\/p>\n As of June 30, 2025, the comptroller, working alongside the pension systems\u2019 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n As a council member, Lander joined a digital picket line in 2019 backing labor actions urging Amazon to \u201cstop abusing workers and cut ties with ICE.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI wonder if ICE is using facial-recognition software supplied by Amazon for their surveillance of protests in our city,\u201d Lander wrote on X on March 6, 2019.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Palantir has played a central role in federal immigration enforcement since 2013<\/a>. Lander has made opposition to Trump-era immigration policies a central theme of his congressional campaign. In his launch video, he said, \u201cWhen ICE agents started kidnapping our neighbors, I fought back,\u201d referring to his arrest at Federal Plaza.<\/p>\n Palantir\u2019s role in immigration enforcement has been extensively documented. Internal government and company records obtained and reported by The Guardian<\/a> show that Palantir\u2019s platforms have been used to integrate vast quantities of federal and private data \u2014 including travel records, license scans, and other personal information \u2014 into tools that help ICE agents track individuals and coordinate enforcement operations.<\/p>\n As comptroller, Lander serves as custodian of the city\u2019s 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\u2019 boards of trustees and external asset managers.<\/p>\n Lander\u2019s 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<\/a> \u2014 not because of returns but for what he described as inadequate decarbonization plans under the city\u2019s Net Zero policy. Trustees ultimately tabled that decision.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/unnamed-6.jpg\" "\\"NYC")
Brad Lander is grappled by ICE agents inside 26 Federal Plaza, June 17, 2025.Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n