The Trump administration has officially given Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) access to the Medicaid enrollment information of 79 million Americans.
According to the Associated Press, the data handed over to ICE includes the home addresses, birth dates and ethnicities of the enrollees. The agreement to turn over the personal data of millions was reportedly signed on Monday between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Homeland Security. The deal was not publicly announced.
The agreement says that ICE will “use the CMS data” to track down persons of interest identified by ICE.”
“[The agencies] are exploring an initiative to ensure that illegal aliens are not receiving Medicaid benefits that are meant for law-abiding Americans,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Associated Press.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., called the move a “weaponization of data.”
“Trump said he would go after the ‘worst of the worst’ immigrants, yet now is giving ICE EVERYONE’s Medicaid data, even as ICE targets U.S. citizens.” Jayapal said in a post on X. “Oh, and undocumented immigrants can’t even enroll in Medicaid.”
It is true that undocumented immigrants cannot apply for Medicaid. Lawfully present migrants who have lived in the U.S. for five years can apply but are subject to restrictions. Given the way that the Trump administration has played fast and loose with the legal residency status of people it hopes to deport, the data handover has the potential to escalate Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
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