So this is something I know a fair bit about. This article touches on just one aspect. I thhink I know what it's referring to and it's actually a big deal. This administration is looking at every step in the immigration process and making it more difficult and take longer for immigrants. Some examples:

- When you apply for a green card (through employment or marriage), you can optionally apply for a work card (technically and Employment Authorization Document or EAD). Prior to this administration you'd get that in a few months and your green card might take longer. Now, USCIS basically sits on these forever and never issues them. People are getting their green cards first. For some people this is adding a year or more where they cannot legally work. It's cruelty by design;

- For marriage cases, you file 2 petitions: an I130 and an I485. The I130 just proves that you were free to marry and the marriage is legal. The I485 is the adjustment-of-status ("AoS"). It seems like USCIS is, in many cases, approving the I130 but just sitting on the I485, forcing the petitioner to sue in Federal court. Again, it's a delaying tactic;

- Immigration court judges aren't what's called Article 3 judges. Article 3 judges enjoy a constitutional position. They must be approved by the Senate and can't be fired. They have to be impeached, which almost never happens. So non-Article 3 judges are subject to political pressure and can be fired at wsill. In this administration, if a judge rules in favor of immigrants too often they get fired. In the last month, all the immigration judges in San Francisco got fired, for example;

- In the first Trump administration, Title 42 was invoked to keep out immigrants for health concerns. The Biden administration continued this through the pandemic;

- If you get a green card through marriage and you're married for less than 2 years you get a conditional green card. It's valid for only 2 years. After 2 years you have to apply for removal of conditions. USCIS basically sits on these cases forever with processing times taking 2+ years. The only thing that causes the case to be adjudicated is when a spouse applies for citizenship under the 3 year rule;

- The Biden administration had a program called CBP One, which admitted people into the US. The Trump administration has taken the position that these people were entering without inspection ("EWI"), which is the same category as people who sneak across the border. That's a big deal because in most cases people who EWI need a waiver to adjust status and the bar for that waiver is pretty high;

- During the pandemic many people had interviews waived for various reasons. The Trump administration has taken the position that anyone who had a benefit approved without an interview has to have their entire case re-adjudicated to a high bar;

- The vast majority of this out of status in the US aren't illegal border crossers. They're visa overstayers who entered through regular points of entry. The Trump administration has taken the position that anyone taken into ICE custody who is out-of-status cannot be bonded out if they entered without inspection. This leads people to be held in concentration camps, basically, for months or a year or more, even if they've been working and paying taxes for 20+ years;

- This administration more than any previous is looking back at your entire immigration history for any misrepresentations. If they find something, even if it's trivial, they can deny your benefit and even revoke your green card (or even go for denaturalization);

- They've greatly expanded what constitutes misrepresentation. For example, if you come on a student visa and get married in 6-12 months, USCIS may argue you lied on your student visa application and had immigrant intent, particularly if they find any link to the person you married. This could be something as simple as you were acquainted with them in your home country;

- In some cases, they're taking people into ICE custody at their USCIS interviews or their annual check-ins. USCIS officers have a process of how to coordinate this with ICE;

- When someone is taken into ICE custody, they're often quickly moved out of that Federal district to avoid a habeas petition going before a friendly Federal judge for their release. This is how so many detainees can end up in Louisiana within 24-48 hours because that district has been packed with conservative appointees who are far more friendly to the administration.

So, what's the program the NYT is talking about? There is a theory going around that USCIS is working on an integration project with Palantir. Part of the reason, the theory goes, for approving the I130 and sitting on the I485 (as mentioned above), is to delay the case until this system comes online. What exactly this system is and what it looks at is unknown. But it's fair to say it'll look way more broadly at existing data, quite possibly including third-party private data from data brokers.

So I believe this is a test of 2000 cases in this new system.

Green Card Holders Targeted for Deportation by New 'Removal Apparatus'