One of Elon Musk's DOGE team members gained access to highly sensitive data involving thousands of children, including their mental health and therapy records.
The Unaccompanied Alien Children portal (UAC) contains extremely detailed records about minors who enter the U.S. alone, and the database contains reports of trauma such as physical or sexual abuse, in addition to photos, immigration records and addresses of their family members, reported The Guardian.
“I certainly would be concerned about Doge access to the portal – why it was used, which child information was accessed and for what purpose? Were mental health records accessed?” said former heath and human services official Jen Smyers. “These are the most vulnerable children in their most vulnerable moments.”
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Kyle Schutt, a 38-year-old software engineer who works for Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, was given "read-only access" to the UAC portal and "has not modified, copied and shared with any unauthorized users, or removed any records," according to a document produced as part of a lawsuit filed by labor groups seeking to block the team's access to sensitive government data.
“It’s not obvious why Doge would want or need access to this very sensitive information,” said Mark Greenberg, a former HHS official.
Musk's team have been installed in more than 20 agencies looking for alleged “waste, fraud and abuse” in government systems, but former officials say the UAC portal wouldn't show any of that because it's primary a database of children and their sponsors who take care of them during the immigration process.
“Musk has signaled a strong interest in wanting to determine whether unauthorized immigrants are receiving federal benefits, but this is not a benefits program,” Greenberg said. “The child does not receive any financial assistance, the sponsor does not receive any financial assistance.”
DOGE staffers also say they're modernizing outdated government technology, but former officials say HHS already has staffers tasked with maintaining and fixing tech issues.
“The idea that some random guy from Doge could go in and find an issue with the portal that the staff haven’t already diagnosed – I don’t buy that,” Smyers said.