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An unprecedented data-sharing agreement between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) was disclosed through litigation, revealing plans to share personal data on nearly 80 million Medicaid patients with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The agreement, uncovered after FOIA lawsuits by the Freedom of the Press Foundation and 404 Media, shows that ICE was promised highly sensitive information, including addresses, phone numbers, email and IP addresses, Social Security numbers, and even banking details such as routing and account numbers.
The agreement’s stated purpose was to help ICE identify and locate undocumented immigrants in the U.S. While the original scope was broad, a recent court ruling allows a narrower set of data—such as citizenship or immigration status, contact information, date of birth, and Medicaid ID—to be shared for people deemed to be living unlawfully in the country. Following the ruling, ICE can now use Medicaid data in deportation cases.
Reports from the Associated Press revealed that CMS officials were ordered to transfer data from several states with little notice, despite internal objections. DHS defended the agreement as part of efforts to prevent undocumented immigrants from receiving Medicaid. However, federal law already bars undocumented immigrants from accessing federally funded Medicaid except for emergency care.
The agreement is part of a broader pattern of expanded data sharing during the second Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts, including attempted IRS data transfers and TSA sharing traveler lists with ICE.
