Trump administration gives personal data of immigrant Medicaid enrollees
to deportation officials
[June 14, 2025]
By KIMBERLY KINDY and AMANDA SEITZ
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration this week
provided deportation officials with personal data -- including the
immigration status -- on millions of Medicaid enrollees, a move that
could make it easier to locate people as part of his sweeping
immigration crackdown.
An internal memo and emails obtained by The Associated Press show that
Medicaid officials unsuccessfully sought to block the data transfer,
citing legal and ethical concerns.
Nevertheless, two top advisers to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
ordered the dataset handed over to the Department of Homeland Security,
the emails show. Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services were given just 54 minutes on Tuesday to comply with the
directive.
The dataset includes the information of people living in California,
Illinois, Washington state and Washington, D.C., all of which allow
non-U. S. citizens to enroll in Medicaid programs that pay for their
expenses using only state taxpayer dollars. CMS transferred the
information just as the Trump administration was ramping up its
enforcement efforts in Southern California.
Besides helping authorities locate migrants, experts said, the
government could also use the information to scuttle the hopes of
migrants seeking green cards, permanent residency or citizenship if they
had ever obtained Medicaid benefits funded by the federal government.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom ’s office said in a statement that it was
concerned about how deportation officials might utilize the data,
especially as federal authorities conduct immigration raids with the
assistance of National Guard troops and Marines in Los Angeles.
“We deeply value the privacy of all Californians,” the statement said.
“This potential data transfer brought to our attention by the AP is
extremely concerning, and if true, potentially unlawful, particularly
given numerous headlines highlighting potential improper federal use of
personal information and federal actions to target the personal
information of Americans.”
Some California lawmakers on Friday also expressed alarm. U.S. Rep.
Laura Friedman, a Democrat, wrote on X that “we should never use a
person’s need to go to the doctor against them. This will only lead to
more chaos and pain in our communities.”
U.S. Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon said the data
sharing was legal. He declined to answer questions about why the data
was shared with DHS and how it would be used.
“With respect to the recent data sharing between CMS and DHS, HHS acted
entirely within its legal authority — and in full compliance with all
applicable laws — to ensure that Medicaid benefits are reserved for
individuals who are lawfully entitled to receive them,” Nixon said.
An official with DHS, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, said in a
statement that Trump “promised to protect Medicaid for eligible
beneficiaries. To keep that promise after Joe Biden flooded our country
with tens of millions of illegal aliens CMS and DHS are exploring an
initiative to ensure that illegal aliens are not receiving Medicaid
benefits that are meant for law-abiding Americans.”
The initiative appears to be part of a broader effort by the Trump
administration to provide DHS with more data on migrants. In May, for
example, a federal judge refused to block the Internal Revenue Service
from sharing immigrants' tax data with Immigration and Customs
Enforcement to help agents locate and detain people living without legal
status in the U.S.
A targeted review of millions of immigrant Medicaid enrollees
CMS announced late last month that it was reviewing some state's
Medicaid enrollees to ensure federal funds have not been used to pay for
coverage for people with “unsatisfactory immigration status.” In a
letter sent to state Medicaid officials, CMS said that the effort was
part of Trump's Feb. 19 executive order titled “Ending Taxpayer
Subsidization of Open Borders.”
As part of the review, California, Washington and Illinois shared
details about non-U. S. citizens who have enrolled in their state's
Medicaid program, according to a June 6 memo signed by Medicaid Deputy
Director Sara Vitolo that was obtained by the AP. The memo was written
by several CMS officials under Vitolo's supervision, according to
sources familiar with the process.
The data includes addresses, names, social security numbers and claims
data for enrollees in those states, according to the memo and two people
familiar with what the states sent to CMS. Both individuals spoke on the
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share details
about the data exchange.
[to top of second column]
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President Donald Trump, from left, speaks as Health and Human
Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., during an event in the
Roosevelt Room at the White House, May 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File
 CMS officials attempted to fight the
data sharing request from Homeland Security, saying that to do so
would violate federal laws, including the Social Security Act and
the Privacy Act of 1974, according to Vitolo's memo.
“Multiple federal statutory and regulatory
authorities do not permit CMS to share this information with
entities outside of CMS,” Vitolo wrote, further explaining that the
sharing of such personal data is only allowed for directly
administering the Medicaid program.
Sharing information about Medicaid applicants or enrollees with DHS
officials would violate a “long-standing policy,” wrote Vitolo, a
career employee, to Trump appointee Kim Brandt, deputy administrator
and chief operating officer of CMS.
Vitolo and Brandt could not be reached for comment.
The legal arguments outlined in the memo were not persuasive to
Trump appointees at HHS, which oversees the Medicaid agency.
Four days after the memo was sent, on June 10, HHS officials
directed the transfer of “the data to DHS by 5:30 ET today,”
according to email exchanges obtained by AP.
Former government officials said the move was unusual because CMS,
which has access to personal health data for nearly half the
country, does not typically share such sensitive information with
other departments.
“DHS has no role in anything related to Medicaid,” said Jeffrey
Grant, a former career employee at CMS.
Beyond her legal arguments, Vitolo said sharing the information with
DHS could have a chilling effect on states, perhaps prompting them
to withhold information. States, she added needed to guard against
the “legal risk” they were taking by giving federal officials data
that could be shared with deportation officials.
A ‘concerning’ development
All states must legally provide emergency Medicaid services to
non-U. S. citizens, including to those who are lawfully present but
have not yet met a five-year wait to apply for Medicaid.
Seven states, along with the District, allow immigrants who are not
living legally in the country to enroll — with full benefits — in
their state's Medicaid program. The states launched these programs
during the Biden administration and said they would not bill the
federal government to cover those immigrants' health care costs.
The Trump administration has raised doubts about that pledge.
Nixon, the HHS spokesperson, said that the state's Medicaid programs
for immigrants “opened the floodgates for illegal immigrants to
exploit Medicaid — and forced hardworking Americans to foot the
bill.”
All of the states — California, New York, Washington, Oregon,
Illinois, Minnesota and Colorado — have Democratic governors. Due to
his state's budget woes, Newsom announced earlier this year he would
freeze enrollment into the program; Illinois will also shut down its
program for roughly 30,000 non-U. S. citizens in July.
The remaining states — New York, Oregon, Minnesota and Colorado —
have not yet submitted the identifiable data to CMS as part of the
review, according to a public health official who has reviewed CMS'
requests to the states.
Illinois health officials also said they were “deeply concerned” by
the AP’s findings that revealed their state’s Medicaid customer
information was shared with federal agencies outside of CMS, given
that their “understanding (is) that the data is protected under the
federal Privacy Act of 1974 and other federal regulations — which
protects the rights of Americans’ sensitive health and personal
data.”
In a statement issued after publication of AP's story, California's
Newsom said the decision to share the data “will jeopardize the
safety, health, and security of those who will undoubtedly be
targeted by this abuse.”
State health officials from the District and Washington did not
respond to requests for comment.
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