The Trump administration has been stepping up a policy of using immigrants' personal data for immigration enforcement purposes, in a coordinated effort that targets multiple federal agencies and raises concern among experts, public officials and civil rights advocates. Information voluntarily provided by immigrants over the years, such as in public housing applications or tax returns, is being mobilized in unprecedented ways to locate and potentially deport undocumented individuals in the United States, according to The Washington Post.

At the center of this operation is the DOGE Service, an internal government structure created to promote administrative efficiency, but which has been accused of exceeding legal limits when accessing and sharing sensitive data. One of the focuses of the action has been the so-called "mixed status" homes — made up of members with different legal situations. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), for example, is devising measures to bar these families from access to subsidized housing, even if some of the residents are fully eligible.

The effort extends to the use of Social Security Administration databases, where more than 6,000 immigrant names have been entered into systems intended for death verification, compromising the ability of these people to access benefits or work legally. The Treasury Department, for its part, has entered into agreements with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to share tax data with the aim of locating millions of immigrants suspected of being in an irregular situation.

Public officials have expressed discomfort with the way the data is being used and have reported attempts at internal mediation to prevent the misuse of sensitive information. In some cases, such as Social Security, court orders were necessary to prevent the DOGE team's access to the systems, after complaints of misuse of the information.

In this scenario, more than fifty Democratic lawmakers from the United States demanded clarification on a possible leak of sensitive information involving the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In a letter addressed to William Cowen, the agency's acting general counsel, the lawmakers express concern about allegations that confidential data of American workers may have been compromised by actions of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative linked to former President Donald Trump, according to NPR.

The concern was prompted by revelations made by Daniel Berulis, cloud administrator in the NLRB's IT sector, who told NPR that he had identified alarming practices within the agency. According to him, members of the DOGE would have demanded privileged access to the NLRB's systems without any kind of official record, in addition to disabling auditing and digital security tools while large volumes of data were transferred.

The seriousness of the situation intensifies in the face of the suspicion that these actions may have exposed confidential investigations, testimonies and even strategic information from American companies. Berulis suggests that the practices may have left the system vulnerable to cyberattacks and exploitation by foreign actors.

In addition to the security risks, the lawmakers raise questions about DOGE's motives for accessing the NLRB's systems, since the department's stated mission is restricted to administrative efficiency and reducing public spending. The letter also highlights possible conflicts of interest, especially with regard to the performance of businessman Elon Musk, appointed by Trump as responsible for DOGE. Musk, who leads companies currently investigated by the NLRB, such as Tesla and SpaceX, could benefit from insider trading.

The NLRB, for its part, denies any official visit from DOGE in March, as well as providing access to its systems. The agency claims to have conducted an internal review following Berulis' warnings and concluded that there was no violation. Still, the whistleblower insists that his forensic evidence warrants a more robust external investigation.

This episode adds to a series of other complaints against DOGE, such as those mentioned initially. Accused of data mismanagement in several instances of the federal government, the debates on transparency, data security, and the politicization of public institutions in a context of growing polarization in the United States is enhanced.