The Department of Government Efficiency under the Trump administration, has purportedly obtained clearance from the Justice Department to access a sensitive database that includes detailed records concerning immigrants’ interactions with U.S. governmental entities.
This database, known as the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s Courts and Appeals System, houses information dating back to the 1990s on millions of both legal and undocumented immigrants. It encompasses personal details such as addresses, case histories, court testimonies, and confidential interviews conducted with asylum seekers.
On Friday, as reported by The Washington Post, DOGE was granted access to this system.
The Justice Department has refrained from commenting on this reports.
DOGE has actively sought and utilized immigration-related data from several federal agencies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Internal Revenue Service. Additionally, it has reportedly been allowed to access sensitive data from the Labor Department pertaining to immigrants and agricultural workers.
The endeavors of DOGE have reportedly led to the resignation of the acting chief of the IRS earlier this month following an agreement to share taxpayer information of undocumented immigrants with the Department of Homeland Security.
Reports indicate that DOGE has integrated immigration data from multiple agencies into a broader framework managed by the Department of Homeland Security. Furthermore, this initiative has encouraged the Social Security Administration to erroneously add thousands of immigrants to its “death file,” effectively cutting off their access to legal and financial resources in an effort to pressure them into self-deportation, despite their actual living status being known.
DOGE is allegedly collaborating with the Department of Homeland Security to construct a master database intended for tracking and surveillance of undocumented immigrants. This database incorporates data obtained from the IRS, Social Security Administration, and various other government entities, as detailed by WIRED.
“They are attempting to compile an extensive amount of information,” a senior official from Homeland Security disclosed to the outlet. “This initiative is unrelated to identifying fraud or addressing wasteful expenditures… They are already cross-referencing immigration data with SSA, IRS, and even voter registration information.”
On Monday, a federal judge largely restricted Social Security staff members working with DOGE from accessing substantial portions of sensitive data within that system.
