DOGE and the New Face of Deportation Policy

April 28th, 2025

Ayat Nayyer

In the first few months of President Donald Trump’s second term, the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE,) under the direction of Elon Musk, initiated various projects, ranging from the restructuring of the workforce to the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) - but this time around, their focus is on immigration. Indeed, recent reports suggest that DOGE is building a “master database” to increase efficiency in immigration enforcement and deportation efforts, using data acquired from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS,) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE,) and the outside agency of Social Security Administration (SSA.)

DOGE has been further exploring partnerships with affiliated companies, such as Silicon Valley-based Palantir, which is responsible for synthesizing and processing data from the ICE. Currently, Palantir’s software is being used for DHS investigations, and the ICE recently awarded the company a $30 million contract for the development of ImmigrationOS, a system that consolidates biometric data, geolocation, and other personal identifiers to categorize individuals and the threat level posed accordingly.

Despite these technological advances, legal concerns have become a pressing subject. Some Democratic lawmakers remain critical of these actions, as Virginia Representative Gerry Conolloy argued that he was “concerned that DOGE is moving personal information across agencies without the notification required under the Privacy Act or related laws.” However, in an interview with the TIME Magazine, Trump expressed support for the efforts, stating that the assembly of such databases was a requisite measure “to find waste, fraud, and abuse” as a means to bolster the security of the nation.

Public opinion on Trump’s immigration policies remains divided. Under Trump’s invocation of the rarely-used 1798 Alien Enemies Act, the ICE has deported approximately 350 non-U.S. citizens via charter and commercial flights. Notably, one operation involved the deportation of more than two hundred alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, to El Salvador, which posed a national security concern. Such events, coupled with the revocation of student visas at elite universities, including Momodo Taal of Cornell University, who is said to have participated in pro-Palestinian protests, and the recent ruling allowing for the deportation of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, have led to increased debate regarding the targeting of individuals based on political activity and free speech. These actions have continued to intensify scrutiny of the administration’s immigration agenda and harbor questions about its rightful enforcement.

Altogether, with DOGE’s database plans and Trump already having pledged to implement what he has described as the “largest mass deportation in history,” immigration enforcement in the future may become more rapid and expansive. The extent to which the government will use these powers—and whether DOGE’s role will merge into larger overarching surveillance—continues to linger as a key question in discussions about the future of U.S. immigration policy.