HHS Details Intent to Share Medicaid Data With ICE Officials

The Department of Health and Human Services will relay data from Medicaid recipients to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, the HHS said in a memo Friday.

The official notice of the policy comes in response to a preliminary injunction on the data sharing by Judge Vince Chhabria of the US District Court for the Northern District of California in a multistate lawsuit against the Trump administration. Chhabria said in August that the agency had likely acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner that violates the Administrative Procedure Act by forgoing a formal notification process.

Chhabria said the injunction would be lifted 14 days after the HHS and the Department of Homeland Security “completed a reasoned decisionmaking process.” The DHS on Nov. 17 also released a proposal that would toughen restrictions on immigrants who rely on public assistance.

It’s the latest step in President Donald Trump’s mission to oust undocumented immigrants, which has triggered protests and backlash against ICE officers. The move has also splintered some in the Republican Party, as immigrant-heavy labor sectors such as agriculture lobby for relaxed restrictions.

In the memo, the HHS said the decision to share Medicaid data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services with ICE did not undergo formal notice-and-comment rulemaking because it is “at the most, a policy statement,” and therefore not subject to the lengthy rulemaking process.

The HHS also said it views the different data elements that it shares with ICE—such as immigration status, location, and contact information—to be severable from one another in the event a future court ruling strikes down portions of the policy.

The agency also noted that states are only required to share information on individuals who receive federal dollars, and they can provide data on state recipients voluntarily.