The Trump administration is forging ahead with a plan that is sure to fuel alarm across California\u2019s immigrant communities: handing over the personal data of millions of Medicaid recipients to federal immigration officials who seek to track down people living in the U.S. illegally.<\/p>\n
The huge trove of private information, which includes home addresses, social security numbers and ethnicities of 79 million Medicaid enrollees, will allow officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement greater latitude to locate immigrants they suspect are undocumented, according to an agreement signed this week between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Homeland Security and obtained by the Associated Press.<\/p>\n
\u201cICE will use the CMS data to allow ICE to receive identity and location information on aliens identified by ICE,\u201d the agreement says.<\/p>\n
The plan, which has not been announced publicly, is the latest step by the Trump administration to gather sensitive information about people living in the U.S. as it seeks to deliver on its pledge to crack down on illegal immigration and arrest 3,000 undocumented immigrants a day. It is certain to face legal challenges.<\/p>\n
Critics have sounded the alarm ever since the Trump administration directed the CMS last month to send the DHS personal information on Medicaid enrollees, including non-U.S. citizens registered in state-funded programs in California, Illinois, Washington and Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
These states operate state-funded Medicaid programs for immigrants who are otherwise ineligible for federal Medicaid and had committed not to bill the federal government.<\/p>\n
California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff warned last month of potential violations of federal privacy laws<\/a> as Trump officials made plans to share personal health data.<\/p>\n \u201cThese actions not only raise ethical issues but are contrary to longstanding HHS policy and raise significant concerns about possible violations of federal law,\u201d the senators wrote in a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are deeply troubled that this administration intends to use individuals\u2019 private health information for the unrelated purpose of possible enforcement actions targeting lawful noncitizens and mixed status families,\u201d Padilla and Schiff said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cThe decision by HHS to share confidential health information with DHS is a remarkable departure from established federal privacy protections that should alarm all Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin declined to answer questions about whether immigration officials are now accessing the personal Medicaid data or how they plan to use it.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump consistently promised to protect Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries,\u201d McLaughlin said in a statement. \u201cTo 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Undocumented immigrants are not permitted to enroll in Medicaid, a joint federal and state program that helps cover medical costs for low-income individuals. The program also limits benefits for other lawfully present immigrants, with some required to undergo waiting periods before they can receive coverage.<\/p>\n However, federal law requires states to offer emergency Medicaid, coverage that pays for lifesaving services in emergency rooms to everyone, including non-U.S. citizens. <\/p>\n