The Trump administration authorized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to access personal information of about 79 million Medicaid recipients through a new agreement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Records Medicaid, Immigration, ICE, Trump Administration, Data Privacy, CMS, DHS show ICE plans to use the data to track individuals it suspects are in the U.S. illegally.
The agreement, signed between CMS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), permits ICE to access the names, home addresses, birth dates, ethnic and racial identifiers, and Social Security numbers of Medicaid beneficiaries. Access is limited to business hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and will remain in effect through September 9. However, officials are not permitted to download the data.
The document states that ICE will use the data to obtain “identity and location information on aliens identified by ICE,” supporting its efforts to find and detain individuals in the country without legal status. The administration has not formally announced the deal.
The Trump administration approved the data access as part of its intensified efforts to deport undocumented immigrants. Officials say it targets ineligible Medicaid users, but critics warn it may stop people from seeking medical care. A CMS official, who requested anonymity, expressed concern that the agency was being pushed into an enforcement role, saying it was being turned into an immigration agency.
Democratic lawmakers and governors from 20 states have sued to block the data sharing, arguing that it violates federal health privacy laws. The states include California, New York, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Minnesota, and Colorado. They offered Medicaid to some non-citizens without using federal funds.
Health and Human Services officials defended the agreement as legally sound and focused on the proper use of Medicaid funds. Spokesperson Andrew Nixon emphasized that the agency acted “within its legal authority” to ensure benefits go to eligible recipients.
Senator Adam Schiff described the data sharing as a major violation of privacy, stressing that it “must be halted immediately” to prevent harm to families and disruptions in healthcare access.
