DOGE advisors receive data about millions of immigrants in the US

The US Justice Department has granted a group of advisors to the government's DOGE (Department of Government Effectiveness) division permission to access the confidential ECAS database, a system that contains highly detailed information on millions of immigrants in the United States. It is known that at least six DOGE officials were granted such access.

This was reported by The Washington Post, citing internal documents it has reviewed.

Advisors to DOGE, which is subordinated to Elon Musk, will have full access to immigrants' data

The Electronic Court and Appeals System (ECAS) stores the entire lifecycle of an immigration case, from immigrants' names and addresses to their testimony in court, interactions with law enforcement, registration numbers. It even stores medical history in the case of cooperation with other agencies. A government official who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity to discuss the scope of ECAS emphasized that the system contains "all records of every interaction an immigrant has in any way with the US government".

About six DOGE "advisors" who currently work for the Justice Department have been granted access to ECAS. These include former hedge fund staffer Adam Hoffman as well as Payton Rehling and Jon Koval, both of whom work at a private-equity firm tied to Elon Musk. The team also includes Marko Elez, who resigned from the government in February after the Wall Street Journal linked him to a social media account that had made racist posts. He was rehired after Musk dismissed the significance of the posts.ho was previously fired for racist posts but was reinstated after Musk's intervention.

The decision to grant access to ECAS was part of a broader initiative by the Donald Trump administration to aggressively pursue immigration and personal data collection policies. In particular, it has recently become known that DOGE has sought access to the Medicare database to identify individuals who may be in the United States illegally. It has also attempted to include living immigrants on the list of the deceased in order to encourage their self-deportation.

The US is concerned about changes in information policy on immigrant data

Lynn Damiano Pearson, senior staff attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, said that the use of ECAS by DOGE counselors violates the principle of confidentiality. It creates risks even for immigrants who have tried to comply with all the requirements of the law.

ECAS is typically only accessible to investigators, immigration attorneys, and a limited number of DHS employees, such as Customs and Border Protection officers. The very fact that private advisors affiliated with investment companies have gained access to this database has caused outrage among human rights activists and officials.

The Washington Post notes they could not confirm whether the ECAS access granted to DOGE "advisors" last week is part of the work of the JUST-DOGE team or part of a separate endeavor.

As a reminder, US President Donald Trump said he plans to introduce a "self-deportation" program for illegal immigrants. 

Also, it was reported that Elon Musk, allegedly uses his own social network X to "recruit" women who could become potential mothers of his biological children.