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US President Donald Trump has been intensifying immigration crackdown in the country since the day he returned to Oval Office. His "closest buddy" Elon Musk's DOGE goons are building a "master database" to speed up the identification, detention, and deportation of undocumented migrants, reported CNN.
The project is using sensitive personal data from across federal government departments, including the IRS, Social Security Administration and Health and Human Services—with help from Palantir Technologies.
Notably, Palantir Technologies is a controversial Silicon Valley data analytics firm co-founded by Trump ally Peter Thiel.
According to sources, it is an unprecedented attempt to centralise personal information from multiple agencies into a single source.
Their aim is to generate rapid "targeting lists” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, sources said.
However, they also warned that it could lead to a civil liberties disaster.
“If they are designing a deportation machine, they will be able to do that,” a former senior IRS employee told CNN.
WATCH | Trump's deportation plan stalled as courts rule on Alien Enemies Act
It also raised concerns amongst Democratic lawmakers and privacy advocates. Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA) accused DOGE of “rapidly, haphazardly, and unlawfully” combining databases without proper oversight.
It further warned that the US citizens’ personal and financial data could be swept up and misused.
“They’re going to take the information we already have and put it into a system,” a Trump administration official told CNN. “It will be able to rapidly queue information. Everyone is converting to Palantir.”
Trump was asked by TIME about whether the database would be used for immigration enforcement, to which, he answered "not that I know of."
However, public documents suggest otherwise, saying, Palantir’s contract with DHS explicitly covers “streamlining selection and apprehension operations of illegal aliens.”