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| The executive order will certainly help agencies coordinate better. It will also give all the information ICE will need to know exactly who lives where, their documented status if they are immigrants, where they live, where their children go to school, etc... |
In what at first glance is an executive order to help agencies coordinate together more effectively, Trump will gain access to sensitive data about millions of immigrants and their citizen children.
The "Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos" exectutive order requires that agencies open their databases of unclassified information to other agencies. This appears to exempt things like FBI investigations and CIA work, and the work of other law-enforcement agencies, but would apply to all other databases where sensitive personal information of Americans and immigrants is held. Personal data is not classified data, and is not exempt.
In many ways I can see how this can help agencies communicate and serve the public. Currently, agencies have to receive persmission from clients to communicate about clients. For example, if FEMA is searching for all the people who live in a designated disaster area, they can't get a list from other agencies like Social Security or State agencies. This order will give FEMA (for example), access to that information.
How much do we want this? I can see pros and cons. If I apply for a small business loan from the Small Business Association, do I want all other federal agencies to have unfettered access to all the information I provided?
The order also requires states to provide all the data for programs that receive federal funding. Most of the welfare programs that receive federal funds, such as SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, Unemployment and Housing, are run by the states. These programs require that the states gather and keep on file highly sensitive data of recipients: birth certificate, immigration documents, social security number, address, , employers, businesses, bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, school, etc...
I believe a major objective of this order is not only to find out who receives programs, but to identify documented and undocumented immigrants whose children have received programs.
I have little faith that the administration means well with this. I have been looking at Trump's actions for a while now, and it would be out of character if the only purpose of this order is to make government run more effectively.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/
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