The Trump administration has handed over the personal data of immigrant Medicaid enrollees to deportation officials, the Associated Press reports.
Included in the data are the immigration statuses of millions of Medicaid enrollees, which could be used to identify individuals for deportation as part of President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration crackdown.
This has caused notable concern among officials in California due to the raids in Los Angeles by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, supported by troops, which have ignited protests and civil unrest.
An internal memo and emails obtained by the AP show that Medicaid officials unsuccessfully attempted to block the data transfer, citing legal and ethical concerns.
They were overruled by two top advisers to Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr., who ordered that the dataset be handed over to the Department of Homeland Security, the emails reveal.
The data consists of the details of people living in California, Illinois, Washington State, and Washington, D.C., all so-called “sanctuary states” that permit non-U.S. citizens to enroll in Medicaid programs funded solely by state taxpayer dollars.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office expressed concern that the data would be used for immigration raids supported by the National Guard troops and Marines that President Trump deployed in Los Angeles.
“We deeply value the privacy of all Californians,” a statement said.
“This potential data transfer brought to our attention by the AP is extremely concerning, and if true, potentially unlawful, particularly given numerous headlines highlighting potential improper federal use of personal information and federal actions to target the personal information of Americans.”
Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon said the data was shared legally, “to ensure that Medicaid benefits are reserved for individuals who are lawfully entitled to receive them.”
The data includes addresses, names, Social Security numbers and claims data for enrollees in those states, the AP reported, based on details of the memo and two people familiar with what the states sent to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Officials at CMS were given just 54 minutes on Tuesday to comply with the RFK Jr. team’s directive, the outlet reported.
The AP states that Nixon wouldn’t answer questions about how Homeland Security would use the data, and DHS officials did not respond to requests for comment.
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