ILLINOIS — The Trump administration has handed over sensitive personal data of immigrant Medicaid enrollees — including thousands from Illinois — to federal deportation officials, according to internal memos and emails obtained by the Associated Press and reported by the Chicago Tribune.
The information was transferred despite objections from top Medicaid officials who warned that the action could violate federal privacy laws and undermine longstanding protections. The controversial move comes amid a broader crackdown following a February executive order titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders.”
Immigrant Data Turned Over in 54 Minutes
On Tuesday, officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) were given just 54 minutes to comply with a directive ordering them to transfer personal data to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
According to the Tribune report, the dataset includes:
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Names and addresses
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Social Security numbers
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Claims data
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Immigration status
This data covers immigrant enrollees in Illinois, California, Washington state, and Washington, D.C., where state funds are used to provide Medicaid coverage for non-citizens.
CMS Officials Raised Legal and Ethical Concerns
Internal memos written by CMS Deputy Director Sara Vitolo documented pushback from within the agency. Vitolo warned that the transfer violated both the Social Security Act and the Privacy Act of 1974, noting that federal law prohibits sharing Medicaid data with non-program entities.
“Multiple federal statutory and regulatory authorities do not permit CMS to share this information with entities outside of CMS,” Vitolo wrote in an email to Trump-appointed CMS deputy Kim Brandt.
Despite these objections, the order was executed by senior advisers to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who authorized the data release to DHS.
Illinois and California Among Key States Impacted
Illinois was among a small group of states — including California, Washington, and D.C. — that had voluntarily provided Medicaid data for CMS’s review. These programs were designed to extend full health benefits to undocumented immigrants using only state-level funding, without billing the federal government.
However, Trump administration officials expressed skepticism, claiming the programs could create an avenue for undocumented residents to illegally tap into federal benefits.
In response, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office condemned the action, calling the data release “extremely concerning” and possibly unlawful.
Potential Implications for Immigrants
Legal experts warn that the shared data could be used to:
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Locate and target individuals for deportation
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Deny green card or citizenship applications based on prior public benefit usage
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Dissuade immigrants from enrolling in essential health programs
“DHS has no role in anything related to Medicaid,” said Jeffrey Grant, a former CMS official, adding that the agency had never before shared such health data with immigration enforcement.
CMS officials fear the action could also discourage states from cooperating with future federal programs or sharing data.
Illinois Medicaid Program For Immigrants Set To End
Illinois is set to end its immigrant Medicaid program in July, which currently covers roughly 30,000 non-citizens. Officials in the state have not commented publicly on the data transfer as of this writing.
Other states that offer similar coverage — including New York, Oregon, Minnesota, and Colorado — have not yet complied with CMS’s request for data, per public health officials monitoring the situation.
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