Democrats are outraged about the Trump administration’s “weaponization” of Medicaid for immigration enforcement.
The outrage occurred after reports that the Trump administration finalized an agreement to let ICE tap into federal Medicaid records to identify and locate illegal immigrants.
According to a document obtained by the Associated Press, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will now have limited access to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) data.
This change allows agents to confirm the identities and whereabouts of individuals flagged by ICE as potentially residing in the country unlawfully.
CMS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin acknowledged the new policy in a written statement, noting that the two agencies “are exploring an initiative to ensure that illegal aliens are not receiving Medicaid benefits that are meant for law-abiding Americans.”
McLaughlin also clarified that the data will not be transferred wholesale to ICE.
Instead, agents will verify individual records during standard working hours through existing channels.
Prior presidential administrations reportedly blocked similar efforts, but the Trump administration has prioritized using all available tools to curb illegal immigration.
Some Democrat-aligned critics denounced the move. Former Biden-era CMS official Hannah Katch criticized the effort, stating, “It’s unthinkable that CMS would violate the trust of Medicaid enrollees in this way.”
Katch asserted that such personal information is usually protected unless used in cases involving fraud or program abuse.
Adding to the political friction, 20 Democratic-led states have filed lawsuits against the federal government, aiming to prevent the data-sharing practice.
They argue that releasing information tied to undocumented individuals who may have accessed healthcare violates their privacy.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta reported that the Golden State is attempting to get a court order to block ICE’s access to the data.
“It is devastating to think that individuals may not seek essential medical care because they are afraid that if they do so, they may be targeted by this administration,” he remarked in a statement.
“The president’s efforts to pull personal, private, and unrelated health data to create a mass deportation machine cannot be allowed to continue.”
Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), an immigrant herself, accused the Trump team of turning healthcare data into a weapon against migrants.
“This is about the weaponization of data, full stop,” she said. Jayapal also challenged the administration’s justification.
“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,” she posted on liberal social media platform Blueky.
“Oh, and undocumented immigrants can’t even enroll in Medicaid,” Jayapal added.
Simultaneously, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) raised alarms over a broader effort to collect genetic data from migrants.
In a letter addressed to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Wyden accused the administration of deploying widespread DNA surveillance without sufficient oversight.
“It appears the only basis for this DNA surveillance is to further the Trump administration’s animus toward immigrants,” Wyden wrote.
The senator said he feared that immigrant communities would be discouraged from seeking services due to the administration’s expanding data collection initiatives.
The letter cited a Georgetown University Law Center report showing that the number of DNA profiles sent by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to the FBI’s DNA database has increased by over 5,000% in five years.
According to the research, more than 250,000 profiles have been added in the first four months of this year alone.
Wyden demanded answers from the administration by August 1. He asked which agencies are involved in collecting DNA, what the biometric data is being used for, and whether it could be used to extract racial or ethnographic information.
He also raised concerns about whether the Department of Justice and DHS could utilize the DNA in unrelated investigations down the line.
Notably, Wyden claimed that DNA has been collected from minors, including a 4-year-old child, prompting comparisons to surveillance tactics used by authoritarian regimes.
“Governments exercising such broad discretion to involuntarily collect and retain DNA are repressive authoritarian regimes also engaging in gross human rights violations,” Wyden wrote, referencing practices like genocide and torture seen in places like China.
