ICE granted entry to Medicaid information to trace and deport unlawful immigrants

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was just lately granted entry to Medicaid enrollee information, aiding officers tasked with fulfilling the Trump administration's goal of monitoring down and deporting unlawful immigrants.

Medicaid, which makes use of taxpayer {dollars} to supply medical insurance to low-income adults and youngsters, has greater than 71 million enrollees as of March 2025.

The knowledge shared with ICE will embody house addresses and ethnicities, based on a report from The Related Press.

The settlement, brokered between the Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Companies (CMS) and the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS), was signed Monday, based on the report.

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The Division of Homeland Safety can have entry to Medicaid enrollee information, based on the report. (AP Newsroom)

Although the true variety of unlawful immigrants on Medicaid is unknown, about 1.4 million individuals at the moment on Medicaid don't meet citizenship and immigration standing necessities for Medicaid enrollment, based on a doc from the Congressional Price range Workplace.

DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin instructed Fox Information Digital the initiative will guarantee unlawful immigrants don't obtain taxpayer-funded well being advantages.

"President Trump constantly promised to guard Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries," McLaughlin wrote in an announcement. "To maintain that promise after Joe Biden flooded our nation with tens of thousands and thousands of unlawful aliens CMS and DHS are exploring an initiative to make sure that unlawful aliens will not be receiving Medicaid advantages which might be meant for law-abiding Individuals."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers look over lists of names and their listening to instances and places contained in the Federal Plaza courthouse earlier than making arrests on June 27, 2025 in New York. (BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP through Getty Photos)

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The deal was signed weeks after California and 19 different states sued the Trump administration for transferring Medicaid information to the DHS.

"The U.S. Division of Well being and Human Companies (HHS)’s Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid Companies (CMS) handed over a trove of people’ protected well being information obtained from States, together with California, Illinois, and Washington, to different federal companies, together with the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS)," based on courtroom paperwork. "Thousands and thousands of people’ well being data was transferred with out their consent, and in violation of federal legislation."

Residents encompass federal and Border Patrol brokers who plan their escape after an immigrant raid on Atlantic Blvd. in Bell, Califonia on June 19, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Occasions through Getty Photos)

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The lawsuit claims the general public’s delicate well being information can solely be used for functions that Congress has approved, accusing the Trump administration of violating federal legal guidelines together with the Administrative Process Act (APA) and the Well being Insurance coverage Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

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The Related Press and Fox Information Digital's Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

Alexandra Koch is a Fox Information Digital journalist who covers breaking information, with a concentrate on high-impact occasions that form nationwide dialog and affect authorities response.