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A member of Elon Musk’s unofficial “department of government efficiency” gained access to a government system that contains the personal data of unaccompanied immigrant children, according to a recent court filing.
The database, called the Unaccompanied Alien Children portal (UAC), contains extremely detailed information about thousands of minors who enter the United States alone, including individual children’s mental health and therapy records, as well as immigration records, photos and addresses of their family members.
Kyle Schutt, a 38-year-old software engineer turned Doge staffer, was granted access on 21 March to the UAC portal, according to a discovery document from 29 March filed in a District of Columbia court. The portal is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, one of the many agencies Musk’s initiative has targeted with cuts.
The revelation about Schutt’s access to the portal was disclosed as part of the discovery process in a lawsuit filed by the AFL-CIO and other labor groups seeking to block Doge’s access to sensitive government data. The court filing, which was released on Saturday night and first reported on by NPR, also includes a partial account of which government data systems Doge staffers have accessed.
Unlike other systems that Doge has accessed, two former HHS officials say, the UAC portal contains no financial or employee records and is intended to be a means of tracking unaccompanied children to provide them with care. The portal’s data is highly sensitive because the children’s case files may include reports of trauma such as physical or sexual abuse, and because the data could be used for immigration enforcement purposes.
“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?” former HHS official Jen Smyers said. “These are the most vulnerable children in their most vulnerable moments.”
Schutt was granted “read-only access” to the UAC portal and “has not modified, copied and shared with any unauthorized users, or removed any records”, nor has he been granted access to other HHS systems, according to the filing. Neither Schutt, nor Doge spokesperson Katie Miller or HHS responded to requests for comment. The filing cites Doge’s broad mission to “identify waste, fraud, and abuse and to modernize government technology and software to increase efficiency and productivity” as reason for Schutt’s access, but gives no further details.
“It’s not obvious why Doge would want or need access to this very sensitive information,” said Mark Greenberg, a former HHS official who worked at the department’s office of the general counsel.
Musk’s allies in Doge have spread throughout more than 20 agencies while claiming to be on a mission to identify “waste, fraud and abuse” in government systems, but former officials say that the Unaccompanied Alien Children portal does not make sense as a place to look for cost-cutting efforts. The portal is primarily a record of children and their sponsors, such as relatives, who take care of them while awaiting a decision on their immigration status. Although the portal lists some names of federal grantees who help operate facilities for children, that information is accessible in other databases that include financial records.
“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.”
Musk, who is acting as a senior adviser to the president and de facto leader of Doge, frequently expresses hardline anti-immigration views and has made numerous misleading claims about undocumented people perpetuating fraud. He has also backed far-right, anti-immigration parties such as Germany’s AfD, as well as suggested there will be “civil war” as a result of European immigration policies.
The Trump administration has sought to remove legal aid for minors who enter the US alone, as well as instructed immigration enforcement agents to track down unaccompanied children as part of its mass deportation efforts.
In February, Doge made extensive cuts to a watchdog office within HHS that visits facilities where child immigrants are held and handles complaints from children and sponsors. The cuts reduced the office from seven staffers to only three.
There’s been a longstanding concern from refugee and immigrant advocates over the UAC portal being used by immigration enforcement agents, a fear that has intensified under the second Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants and reports that multiple Ice officials have gained access to the data system.
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Access to the portal under previous administrations was not given easily and required a careful vetting process, say former officials. Congressional requests for records from the portal involved HHS officials anonymizing the data before handing it over.
Musk and Doge staffers have also claimed that part of their mission is modernizing outdated government technologies and systems. Although former officials say that the portal is based on older technology, they say that HHS already has staffers dedicated to its maintenance 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.
Schutt was first detailed to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at HHS on 14 March, according to the filing, and accessed the portal a week later – the same day that the administration ended a contract that provides legal representation to unaccompanied immigrant children, although there is no indication that the two events are connected. A federal judge on Tuesday overturned that termination and ordered the government to reinstate legal aid.
Before working as a Musk affiliate at a number of agencies, including the General Services Administration and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Schutt worked on a campaign fundraising platform for Republicans. He is currently receiving $195,200 in annual salary, Wired reported, which is the maximum amount most civilian federal employees can make.
Along with listing Schutt, the filing lists several other staffers who have gained access to sensitive government data systems. Marko Elez, who initially resigned from Doge following a report that linked him to a social media account promoting eugenics and racism, has since been reinstated and gained access to several HHS databases including a payment system for Medicare and Medicaid.
