Update: On January 6, 2026, CMS was officially permitted to resume sharing information with ICE while 22 states’ lawsuit against the Trump administration proceeds. This sharing marks a significant reversal from prior policy, in which people enrolling in Medicaid have been explicitly told that the information they share will not be used for immigration enforcement purposes. Fear of immigration enforcement may make all immigrant families, and their citizen family members, less likely to seek out or receive health care.
Timeline:
December 28, 2025 – A federal judge in California ruled that CMS can share a “limited” range of personal data with ICE about only those Medicaid enrollees who are in the U.S. unlawfully. (Undocumented immigrants are already not eligible to enroll in Medicaid.) The judge’s order restricted the range of information that CMS can share within the 22 states suing the Trump administration, while the litigation plays out.
August 12, 2025 – A federal court granted a preliminary injunction blocking the sharing of sensitive personal information between CMS and ICE. This injunction was in response to a lawsuit from 22 Democratic state Attorneys General, led by California Attorney General Ron Bonta.
July 9, 2025 – CMS and ICE established a formal data-sharing agreement.
On June 10, 2025, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) members instructed officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to transfer personal information on millions of undocumented Medicaid recipients to the Department of Homeland Security for immigration enforcement purposes. This action follows CMS’s late-May announcement that it is auditing certain states’ Medicaid customer data to ensure federal funds have not been used to benefit individuals with “unsatisfactory immigration status.” CMS told state Medicaid officials that the decision followed Executive Order 14218, issued by President Trump on February 19, 2025, which directs federal departments and agencies to implement various measures to prevent undocumented immigrants from receiving taxpayer-funded benefits.
California, New York, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado, and the District of Columbia permit undocumented immigrants to enroll in their state Medicaid programs. When these programs were established during the Biden administration, state officials affirmed that they would not request federal reimbursement for the healthcare costs. Instead, the programs are financed exclusively through state taxpayer funds.
The information provided to the DHS by the CMS includes the names, addresses, and immigration status of millions of individuals who participate in their state Medicaid programs. The dataset included information from individuals from California, Illinois, Washington, and D.C. New York, Oregon, Minnesota, and Colorado have not yet submitted their data to CMS.
Impact: In total, the affected population includes approximately 1.6 million Californians, 500,000 New Yorkers, 30,000 Illinoisans, 105,000 Oregonians, 20,187 Minnesotans, 15,000 Coloradoans, 13,000 Washingtonians, and 27,000 residents of the District of Columbia—all enrolled in state Medicaid programs. The data shared by CMS with DHS includes the names, addresses, and immigration status of these individuals. With this personal information now in the hands of federal immigration authorities, these individuals face an increased risk of being targeted for immigration enforcement actions.