A secret algorithm has revealed that U.S. citizens could be expelled from the country. According to the Intercept, this week's Intercept report that the Department of Homeland Security uses an Amazon-hosted system called ATLAS which analyzes millions of records. It can automatically flag naturalized Americans for the revocation of citizenship.
Advertisement
ATLAS is part U.S. Customs and Immigration Services' (UCIS), Fraud Detection and National Security Data System. It runs on Amazon Web Services servers. It is used to examine case records in the immigration system and compare them to other federal databases. This allows authorities to look for signs of criminal, dishonest or dangerous behavior as well as inconsistencies they might consider to be evidence of fraud or multiple identities. The Intercept was provided with documents obtained by the Open Society Justice Initiative (MSJI) and Muslim Advocates (FOIA) requests. These documents show that the system was designed with deportation as its ultimate goal. It also provides tools that could be used to assist immigration authorities in pursuing naturalized citizens who have been subject to decades-old administrative errors.
According to the Intercept, denaturalization used to be very rare. However, under George W. Bush's administration, DHS digitized fingerprint records and identified 1,029 individuals it claimed were evading deportation orders. These people went on to become naturalized citizens. Barack Obama's administration was no stranger to mass deportations. However, it did not urge officials to remove citizenship from those who posed a clear threat. Donald Trump, his openly racist successor, ramped up the machinery of denaturalization. According to The Intercept, the Justice Department stated that it would refer 1,600 naturalized citizens to prosecution during his tenure in 2018.
In the 2019 and 2020 budgets, the DOJ requested $207.6 millions to follow hundreds of leads, review 700,000. immigration records under a similar program and to create an office dedicated to removing citizenship from people accused of lying throughout the process. The Intercept was able to access USCIS documents from the Open Society Initiative that showed that USCIS had filed paperwork relating to denaturalization in at most 2,628 cases as of April 2020. Of these, 745 were still pending while 502 had been referred.
According to The Intercept documents, ATLAS analyses biometrics such as fingerprints and draws information from databases like the FBIs terrorist watchlist and National Crime Information Center. This information has been described as "exceptional instances" by 2020 privacy documents. The system might also consider race and ethnicity when making decisions. A 2016 privacy assessment by FDNS-DS revealed that ATLAS could also identify individuals based upon their known associates. This allows it to help in identifying unobvious relationships and criminal or terrorist connections.
It is hard to not see the secret algorithm being used as a shield against outside scrutiny. This includes questions such as whether data-harvesting contractors or gang databases are included in ATLAS decisions. Although DHS has not provided any details about the system or the data points used to flag potential revocations of citizenship for immigrants, the Intercept reported that USCIS documents show that it can cross-check records of immigrants against ATLAS in many situations.
According to the 2020 privacy assessment, immigrants come in contact with ATLAS when they present themselves to the USCIS for any reason.
Advertisement
According to the 2020 document, ATLAS uses pattern-based algorithms to identify indicators of fraud, public security concerns, and other security issues. However, DHS does not disclose how ATLAS works or which data points ultimately generate red flags. The 2020 document states that rules limit the consideration of individuals connected solely by birth or citizenship to another nation unless there is an assessment of intelligence and risk.
The Intercept reports that a USCIS spreadsheet for 2020, obtained via FOIA, shows 12 categories of ATLAS Alerts. These notifications include notifications that may refer to individuals who are protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), national security categories and multiple identities.
Advertisement
Instead, the documents state that such corrections must be made by the person under investigation. An individual who wants to alter the outcome of ATLAS reviews that expedited them for denaturalization due to an error in FBI's criminal or terrorism databases would have to first determine the nature of the error, then appeal to the FBI directly to correct it. Same applies to anyone who has inconsistencies in old paperwork due to poor work by translators or attorneys, or who did everything correctly and had immigration authorities mishandle or analyze decades-old fingerprint records. The U.S. immigration system is opaque and vulnerable to those who are adversely affected by it. There is also the possibility that the original source information may be classified. It seems unlikely that such errors can be challenged before they escalate into full-blown removal proceedings.
The Intercept reported that ATLAS sends out a System Generated Notification when it makes a negative decision. This is used to triage and send to FDNS DS if possible to determine if it can perform criminal denaturalization referrals and to refer the flagged individual to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This agency is well-known for prioritizing aggressive enforcement over actually taking the time to ensure it has accurate information. According to the LA Times ICE routinely drags citizens into its net based upon shoddy investigations. It has been the subject of dozens false imprisonment lawsuits based on cursory computer search results. Agents often ignore or neglect to gather evidence such as interviews, passports, conflicting records, and even interview transcripts. According to The Intercept in 2019, ATLAS conducted 16.9 million screenings and generated 120,000 red alerts for suspected fraud or threats of national security. ICE has faced dozens of lawsuits for false imprisonment based on cursory computer searches. Agents often ignore or neglect to gather evidence to the contrary like interviews, passports, and conflicting records.
Advertisement
Denaturalized individuals are not always expelled from the country. The Intercept discovered that many USCIS and ICE documents suggested the agency's preferred outcome was deportation. One 2009 ICE memo instructed agents to pursue removal and detention in cases of identity fraud or benefits fraud, even though the DOJ declined to criminally prosecute. A USCIS spreadsheet revealed that 10 of the 10 settlements that offered protection against deportation were rejected by authorities in 2018, and 2019.
Deborah Choi, Muslim Advocates, explained to T he Intercept that ATLAS's purpose is to screen and investigate applications so the government can reject them or refer them for criminal, civil or immigration enforcement. The secret rules, predictive analytics and algorithms serve the purpose of finding things to investigate.
Advertisement
Open Society Justice Initiative filed another FOIA to DHS and USCIS to demand that they reveal the algorithm behind ATLAS. Joe Biden's administration started a review on the denaturalization program February 2021. However, they have not publicly acknowledged it since going past a May deadline and publishing no findings.
According to the report, Amazon was listed as ATLASs web hosting host in 2020. This comes after Amazon has been subject to activist and employee uproar over recent deals with immigration authorities. Intercepts did not receive a response.
