DOGE granted access to naturalization-related IT systems, memo shows
Members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency now have access to technical systems maintained by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, according to a recent memorandum viewed by FedScoop.
The memo, which was sent from and digitally signed by USCIS Chief Information Officer William McElhaney, states that Kyle Shutt, Edward Coristine, Aram Mogahaddassi and Payton Rehling were granted access to USCIS systems and data repositories, and that a Department of Homeland Security review was required to determine whether that access should continue.
Coristine, 19, is one of the more polarizing members of DOGE. He previously used the online moniker “bigballs” and provided assistance to a cybercrime ring through a company he operated while he was in high school, according to other news outlets. Coristine worked for a short period at Neuralink, Musk’s brain implant company, and was previously stationed by DOGE at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The memo, dated March 28, asks DHS Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar to have his office review and provide direction for the four DOGE men regarding their access to the agency’s “data lake” — called USCIS Data Business Intelligence Services — as well as two associated enabling technologies, Databricks and Github.
The document says DHS CIO Antoine McCord and Michael Weissman, the agency’s chief data officer, asked USCIS to enable Shutt and Coristine’s access to the USCIS data lake in mid-March, and Mogahaddassi requested similar access days later.
McElhaney informed Andrew Davidson, the acting deputy director of the agency, and Aaron Calkins, chief of staff, about both requests, and they agreed to provide access. The document described the data lake as “a cloud-based centralized repository of data ingested from disparate USCIS applications and source data” and noted that the system was accessed through Databricks, “an analytics platform that connects disparate sources of data into a unified system.”
Near the end of March, the DHS CIO informed USCIS that Rehling was assisting Mogahaddassi and also needed access to the USCIS data lake through Databricks. Mogahaddassi had also sought access to the agency’s GitHub.
A source familiar with the matter told FedScoop that the USCIS Data Business Intelligence Services (DBIS) system contains the Electronic Immigration System (ELIS) and the Central Index System (CIS), along with others, and essentially provides DOGE with the agency’s electronic immigration data. The person emphasized that the systems accessed by these DOGE representatives can include asylee and refugee data.
FedScoop did not hear back from USCIS by the time of publication. USCIS did not confirm that the DOGE workers could access the ELIS and CIS systems, which are not explicitly named in the memo, through access to the data lake.
Still, if the data lake is connected to these systems, DOGE employees could have access to an immense amount of data for both naturalization applicants and U.S. citizens, one person who used to work at the agency told FedScoop. When people apply to live in the United States, they have to supply a significant amount of information to USCIS, and U.S. citizens — particularly those sponsoring others’ applications — have to share personal data as well. These applications can include medical and financial data.
The former employee said that their parent was naturalized in the 1960s, and they were highly concerned about the risks posed by DOGE having access to that sensitive data.
Another former senior DHS official described ELIS as the system that processes legal immigration benefits. ELIS acts as a case management system for USCIS and includes information about green cards and petitions, as well as details related to Temporary Protected Status and DACA applicants. The CIS contains information about people who use Alien Numbers, or A-Numbers. These can include people who don’t have legal authorization to be in the country or who have interacted with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the person said. The USCIS website describes the CIS program similarly.
McElhaney, the USCIS CIO who signed the memo, has been in the federal government for years, and Calkins is currently serving in his second stint as the agency’s chief of staff. Edgar also worked for USCIS during President Donald Trump’s first term.
USCIS is one of the latest agencies to see DOGE enter its networks. Members of the Elon Musk-led team have been given access to government IT systems across the federal government, including at the U.S. Agency for International Development, NASA, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, among many others.
One federal judge has blocked DOGE’s access to data at the Education Department and the Office of Personnel Management. Another barred DOGE representatives from Social Security Administration systems and ordered the deletion of all non-anonymized personal information accessed via those systems.
At the Treasury Department, a pair of DOGE associates were blocked by a federal judge in February from accessing payment records, systems and data. According to a court filing last month, one of those DOGE staffers — who has a history of racist social media posts — had violated Treasury security policies by sharing personally identifiable information in a spreadsheet with two General Services Administration officials.
Matt Bracken contributed reporting.
