DOGE Taps Immigration, SSA Data for Central Database
NEWS & RESEARCH
In April 2025, the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—an unofficial advisory body—accessed two major immigration databases. These include the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s Courts and Appeals System (ECAS), which contains millions of restricted records like asylum claims and biographical data, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) systems, which hold sensitive information on refugees, asylum seekers, green card holders, and DACA recipients. DOGE also gained access to many other agency databases, including that of the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Medicare, with the blessing of the US Supreme Court.
ANALYSIS & OPINION
DOGE’s access to sensitive data for millions of immigrants—and its expansion into Social Security and Medicare databases—has sparked alarms. Junior tech workers were permitted to query raw, identifiable files without a "need to know" or individual consent. DOGE is actively seeking to create a centralized federal database by aggregating sensitive personal records from various agencies, ostensibly to eliminate bureaucratic "information silos" and curb waste, fraud, and abuse. However, critics and ongoing lawsuits argue this massive data merger violates the Privacy Act of 1974, which was specifically designed to limit government surveillance by requiring that data collection be purpose-driven and compartmentalized. There are also deep concerns that such a "one big database" creates a significant cybersecurity risk and provides the government with unprecedented power to target individual Americans at scale—ranging from freezing bank accounts of debtors to profiling dissidents—effectively prioritizing executive efficiency over fundamental civil liberties and privacy protections.
SOURCES: Brookings | Washington Post | Washington Post | Rep. John B. Larson
HOW TO FIX IT
Litigation: Support lawsuits by federal employees and public interest organizations to limit DOGE access to sensitive data.
Federal action:
A number of senators proposed legislation to amend the Privacy Act, making it easier to hold officials accountable for unauthorized data sharing.
Pass H. Res. 1097, a Resolution of Inquiry requiring Treasury and DHS to surrender all records regarding the illegal sharing agreement.
Support whistleblower disclosures, which revealed SSA data was accessed to aid political groups.
Congress should require Elon Musk and his former DOGE “advisors” to testify under oath about their access to and handling of sensitive data.
Pass whistleblower protection acts for federal employees and government contractors who handle the sensitive personal data of American citizens, including S.1154 - Congressional Whistleblower Protection Act of 2025, and S.874 - Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act of 2025 (which has passed the senate and is pending in the House).
Legislation: S.1208 - Privacy Act Modernization Act of 2025 | S.1154 - Congressional Whistleblower Protection Act of 2025 | S.874 - Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act of 2025
