About 30 people (and two dogs) gathered outside U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss’s district office building on Crafts Street in Newtonville Monday afternoon to express concern over his acceptance of campaign funds from executives of Palantir Technologies.

Palantir is a surveillance and data integration company that has worked with private enterprises and government entities on data analysis. The company has stirred controversy with its partnerships with Immigration & Customs Enforcement and the Israeli military.

The company’s co-founder is venture capitalist and conservative political activist Peter Thiel. According to FEC filings, Auchincloss’s campaign war chest has received about $25,000 from Palantir executives, including $7,000 from Palantir CEO Alexander Karp.

Dressed as a doctor, Bonnie Rae of Newton Indivisible (the social justice group that holds anti-Trump administration rallies on the Newton Centre Green on Saturdays) grabbed a microphone and referred to congressional campaign donations from Palantir executives as “an insidious illness.” 

“Apparently our one and only CD-4 Congressperson, Jake Auchincloss, has been suffering with this illness for approximately one year, and we decided it was time to get here to help him heal from this nasty infection, which seems to be infecting many of our legislators,” Rae said.

The “treatment” for said illness? Rae said she and the rest of the group want Auchincloss to give all money donated from Palantir, its PAC and its executives to immigrants’ rights organizations.

“We want to assist Rep. Auchincloss in any way that we can help him recover from this devastating condition,” she said. 

Georgina Barros, Auchincloss communications director, noted that Auchincloss has voted against ICE funding and has called for reforms to the agency. “The congressman’s record speaks for itself,” Barros said. “This Congress, he has repeatedly voted against writing a blank check for ICE. Last Congress, he voted in favor of the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act, which prohibits law enforcement and intelligence agencies from purchasing Americans’ personal data from third-party providers. Claims to the contrary ignore the facts.”

Indeed, despite previous “yes” votes for ICE funding, Auchincloss has been a vocal critic of the agency in recent months, as ICE agents have killed multiple civilians and the congressman has opposed funding without reforms. And he’s frequently called for more regulation of tech companies.

Fun fact: In the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a palantir is a crystal orb that allows the user to see and communicate through time and space, and the villain Saruman uses one to spy on Middle Earth and manipulate various characters with lies.