Democratic senators accused the Trump administration on Tuesday of violating a court order by sharing Medicaid data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In letters sent to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the lawmakers demanded that the agencies cease providing enrollee information for use in deportation proceedings.
The dispute follows a federal injunction issued in December by District Judge Vince Chhabria in California. That ruling restricted HHS to sharing only basic data, such as addresses, phone numbers, and citizenship status, and specifically prohibited ICE from collecting data on U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.
Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) cited administration court filings admitting to data transfers that were "inconsistent with the injunction." According to the filings, HHS shared a spreadsheet on Jan. 7 containing Medicaid data on millions of enrollees, including citizens, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent biographical data on nearly 6,000 refugees in Minnesota to ICE on Jan. 19.
The administration described the Jan. 7 and Jan. 19 transfers as "inadvertent" and stated that ICE has since deleted the files from DHS systems. However, the four senators expressed skepticism regarding the explanation and are seeking the names of the specific officials responsible for the data sharing. A person enrolled in Medicaid might notice no immediate change to their health benefits, but the incident establishes a conflict over whether health records can be used by ICE to identify individuals for deportation or other enforcement actions.
The knock-on effects concern the legal precedent of agency data-sharing and whether existing court injunctions can effectively prevent the use of administrative health data for immigration enforcement. The senators have demanded a full accounting of communications between HHS and ICE regarding warnings about U.S. citizen data. The agencies have not yet reported a deadline for responding to the congressional inquiry, and further proceedings regarding the violation of the December injunction are expected to continue in federal court.
Explainers: Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that provides health coverage to people with limited income. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the federal agency responsible for enforcing immigration laws and conducting deportations. An injunction is a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from specific acts. Lawful permanent residents are non-citizens who are authorized to live and work in the United States permanently.