The Trump administration has approved a deal allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to access personal information from Medicaid records.
Under an agreement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), ICE can review data on roughly 79 million Medicaid recipients, including names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers, and racial or ethnic identifiers. Access is limited to business hours and does not allow downloads. The agreement is active until September 9.
ICE intends to use the data to locate individuals it believes are in the country illegally. The Department of Homeland Security and CMS signed the agreement without a public announcement.
Federal officials say the move targets people using Medicaid benefits illegally. Critics argue it could deter immigrants from seeking healthcare. A CMS employee, speaking anonymously, said the agency is being pulled into immigration enforcement.
Democratic leaders in 20 states, including California, New York, and Illinois, have filed lawsuits to block the data sharing, citing privacy law violations. These states offer Medicaid to some non-citizens using state funds.
The Department of Health and Human Services says the agreement is legal and focused on protecting public resources. Senator Adam Schiff called the move a privacy breach and urged the administration to end it immediately.
