An unannounced agreement between the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) allows ICE to access personal data from up to 79 million Medicaid recipients. The stated goal is to help locate immigrants living without authorization in the U.S., according to documents obtained by the Associated Press.
While the agreement does not permit data downloads, it does authorize ICE to access the information during limited hours: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Sept. 9.
“They’re trying to turn us into immigration agents,” said a CMS official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Lawmakers, civil rights advocates, and state officials have raised concerns over the legality of the move, and at least 20 states have filed lawsuits alleging violations of medical privacy laws.
Impact in North Carolina
In North Carolina, attorney Kate Woomer-Deters, Senior Attorney with the Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project at the North Carolina Justice Center, was clear: “This agreement is completely illegal. There have been laws in place for years that prohibit the disclosure of this kind of information,” she told Enlace Latino NC. “It caught us by surprise. We’ve always known and said that health agency information would not be shared with other authorities. This is shocking and illegal.”
Woomer-Deters warned that the policy “harms people directly” and that lawsuits over confidentiality violations are already anticipated.
She also explained that the agreement raises several serious concerns. On one hand, it allows the disclosure of personal data for all Medicaid enrollees, regardless of immigration status. On the other, she noted that North Carolina is not one of the states that provides regular Medicaid to undocumented individuals. However, there are immigrants who access emergency Medicaid, which only covers life-saving services, pregnant individuals, and is mandatory in all states.
States Offering Medicaid to Undocumented Immigrants
Several states offer Medicaid or state-funded health coverage to some undocumented immigrants, mainly children and pregnant individuals, with some expanding coverage to adults. These states include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
Opens the Door to Racial Profiling
Woomer-Deters clarified that when filling out enrollment forms for children—who are eligible citizens or residents—immigration information about parents is not required. “They only ask for income and address information, and immigration status can be left blank. That’s not proof that someone is undocumented,” she explained.
Still, she fears that under the current circumstances, ICE could misinterpret forms with missing information and names like “María García” or “José Pérez” as a “red flag,” even though that omission is not evidence of a parent’s immigration status.
The attorney also urged calm: “Families already enrolled, whose children are receiving Medicaid, should not stop using it. The government already has that information. Nothing changes.”
Regarding new enrollments, she advised families to weigh their risks: “Now every family has to assess their own situation when deciding whether or not to enroll their citizen children in Medicaid. No one can tell them what to do. What matters is balancing risks and needs.”
North Carolina’s Medicaid Picture
In North Carolina, more than 2.8 million people are enrolled in Medicaid across both traditional and expanded programs. Among them:
- Over 61,700 Hispanic enrollees.
- 43% of enrollees are minors, and in rural areas, nearly half of all children depend on Medicaid, according to North Carolina Central University.
- Among Hispanic enrollees, 54.6% are between 19 and 29 years old, and 58.6% are women.
- There are more than 1.4 million enrolled children.
Pressure on States Not Using Federal Funds
The agreement was driven by former President Donald Trump’s team, which aims to restrict public service access for undocumented individuals, according to AP. In recent weeks, the administration demanded Medicaid data access in seven states—all led by Democratic governors—that provide full coverage to noncitizen immigrants. Although these states don’t bill the federal government, they still faced pressure to hand over data.
CMS officials tried to block the transfer. In an internal email chain, the Department of Justice was asked to intervene and request a pause from the White House. However, Health Department lawyers replied that there were no legal objections to moving forward.
Sen. Adam Schiff (California) publicly condemned the decision: “The mass transfer of personal data from millions of Medicaid recipients should alarm everyone. This massive violation of our privacy laws must be stopped immediately.”
DHS has said the data access is part of an effort to reduce costs and prevent fraud. However, civil rights advocates see this as a dangerous precedent that could deter immigrant families—including U.S. citizens—from seeking medical care, while accelerating deportations by targeting non-criminal immigrants to fulfill campaign promises based on misleading statistics.
PODCAST
Después de la tormenta
Hace un año, el huracán Helene golpeó al oeste de Carolina del Norte. La comunidad latina respondió con algo más fuerte que la tormenta: solidaridad.
🎧 En este episodio, conoce cómo las organizaciones latinas transformaron la crisis en resiliencia.
▶️ ¡Dale play para escuchar!
Republique gratuitamente nuestras historias en su website o periódico. Seguimos la licencia de Creative Commons. Dele clic al recuadro, y siga las instrucciones.
