Tech companies and special teams are applying their skills and determination at the behest of the Trump Administration to unlock billions of individual records in federal databases, state and local to create a surveillance state. And the Trump administration is using immigration enforcement as a proving ground for creating a surveillance state to cover all living persons – and most likely dead ones as well. The insouciance of the tech experts about privacy removes any personal ethical barriers. Combined federal, state and local databases can, for instance, identify every non-citizen living in a city block; uncover minor infractions (down to overdue library books); and check on marriages of non-citizens.
Wired (here and here) and Fedscoop have done prodigious investigations of what the government is up to generally in surveillance and for non-citizens in particular.
There are several attractive aspects of the immigrant population for using immigration enforcement as a proving ground. The most dramatic one is that the federal government has the power to force an individual, even one with a green card, to leave the country. (I am passing over the threat to deport citizens such as children among unauthorized parents who are deported.) Another attractive aspect is that there are some 11 or 12 million unauthorized persons in the country, which allows the administration to exercise authoritative power to expedite removal. The court system we have seen provides a partial deterrent. The administration appears to believe in a third attractive aspect, which is that the average American citizen (it believes) think that non-citizens appropriately have less due process protections than citizens. Again, the court system over the next year is going to sort that out.
The internet has proven the value of surveillance and the power of info technology to profile persons. We have already witnessed the concept of personal surveillance in the growth of massive personal databases of Internet companies. This is well documented in Shoshana Zuboff’s book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. To quote just one passage from the book she writes that “In 2015 a team at Google found that anyone who simply visited the hundred most popular websites would collect over 6,000 cookies in his or her computer, 83% of which were from third parties unrelated to the website that was visited. They reported that Google’s ability to track users on popular websites is unparalleled and it approaches the level surveillance that only an Internet service provider can achieve.”
Until now, it appears that there has never been a serious effort to bring together disparate databases, as they have arisen, into a surveillance system for non-citizens. Attempts at the state level the match Department of Motor Vehicles data with voter registration data have proved miserably poor with respect to data integrity. They have never revealed more than a scant number of non-citizens verified to be on voter rolls.
One attempt by the administration in the past few weeks to recruit a database for the express purpose of deporting students blew up in its face. It matched the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, a database for international student visas, with a federal criminal justice database run by the National Crime Information Center. Over a hundred court rulings hostile to visa cancellations caused the administration to cancel the project.
On March 15, Trump issued an Executive Order calling for database integration that goes beyond the federal databases to include state and local public databases. Federal agency heads are directed to provide “full and prompt access” to all *unclassified* records, data, and IT systems to designated federal officials. This includes facilitating both intra- and inter-agency data sharing. Agencies must ensure immediate access to comprehensive data from all state programs receiving federal funding, including data maintained by third-party databases. Given the actions by DOGE to unlock databases governed by privacy laws, it is inevitable that integration will cover eventually all databases. Witness the success of DOGE to unlock some IRS databases to inspection. Integration will come next.
The administration is challenged by a dense web of laws and policies historically kept federal data in silos. The cornerstone laws — Privacy Act of 1974 — requires every agency to publish a System of Records Notice for personal data and to “safeguard” those records. Integrating data across databases generally requires either explicit statutory authority, individual consent, or exhaustive administrative steps. Most databases require personal consent for release to the public of personal information. Boundaries on use of data other than that prescribed by law are clear. For instance, a person’s Social Security number “for any purpose other than the purpose described” is not permitted.
The DOGE team has penetrated the social security system. Wired found that DOGE is now coordinating data uploads from the Social Security Administration (SSA), IRS, and state-level voter databases (notably from Pennsylvania and Florida) into DHS’s pre-existing database, which is also being centralized under the umbrella of USCIS’s DBIS (see the inventory below). SSA data, including from its Numident database, contains comprehensive personal records such as full names, citizenship status, race, ethnicity, and alien registration numbers. (Numident is maintained by the Social Security Administration and contains records on every individual who has ever been issued a Social Security Number). Wired uncovered that the linkage of this data with USCIS biometric systems—such as the Customer Profile Management System—raises the possibility of geolocation and surveillance capabilities.
Regarding the IRS, the media hasy not yet pointed out the ITIN database maintained by the IRS, which contains literally millions of unauthorized persons (see the inventory below).
Regarding immigration, FedScoop reported that DOGE personnel were granted access to the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service’s internal systems. These include the USCIS Data Business Intelligence Services (DBIS), aggregating information from systems such as the Electronic Immigration System (ELIS) and the Central Index System (CIS). These databases are included in the inventory of immigration-centric databases below.
The major databases designed to keep records of non-citizens include the following:
DBIS (Data Business Intelligence Services) A data aggregation and analytics platform used internally by USCIS to consolidate information from various systems for reporting, fraud detection, and decision support. Includes applicant profiles, case histories, biometric check results, adjudication outcomes, and possibly audit trails.
CIS (Central Index System) A legacy system that acts as a central reference index for immigration benefit applications. Contains alien registration numbers, application types, statuses, key biographic data, and immigration history summaries.
ELIS (Electronic Immigration System) a web based system designed to liberate the USCIS from paper use. It does not itself have unique data but rather facilitates access to databases.
ADIS (Arrival and Departure Information System). Tracks the arrival and departure of non-U.S. citizens entering and exiting the country. Includes travel history of nonimmigrants (e.g., visa holders), overstay data, and information relevant to enforcement or eligibility for benefits.
IDENT (Automated Biometric Identification System) Stores and matches biometric data (fingerprints, facial images) for immigration enforcement, border management, and visa processing. Used to verify identity and detect possible threats. Includes noncitizens’ biometric records collected during immigration processes, at ports of entry, and during enforcement actions.
SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) Monitors nonimmigrant students (F, M visas) and exchange visitors (J visa), as well as their sponsoring schools/programs. Visa status, academic progress, address updates, and school enrollment.
CLAIMS (Computer Linked Application Information Management System) Manages data from immigration benefits applications (e.g., green cards, naturalization, work permits). Application status, applicant history, biometric and background check results.
TECS (not an acronym, formerly Treasury Enforcement Communications System) Tracks border crossings and screens travelers against watchlists. Includes entry/exit records, visa status, alerts on individuals of interest.
NIV (Nonimmigrant Visa System): Handles issuance and tracking of nonimmigrant visas (e.g., tourists, students, temporary workers). Visa application data, interview notes, background checks, and biometric results.
IV (Immigrant Visa System) Supports immigrant visa processing for lawful permanent residence (green card) applications abroad. Includes application documents, security clearance checks, interviews, and decision outcomes.
ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) Often used by non-citizens who are not eligible for SSNs. Many unauthorized persons are expected to be in this database.