A federal judge in California, Vince Chhabria, authorized the Trump administration to share with ICE six types of "basic" data of Medicaid beneficiaries: citizenship, immigration status, address, phone number, date of birth, and Medicaid identification. As explained by POLITICO, the order limits the sharing to individuals living without legal status in the United States, so ICE cannot access information of other immigrants with some type of immigration permit.
NBC News details that the decision partially lifts a restraining order that blocked the federal plan in 20 states, including California, which sued to stop the use of Medicaid databases for deportation purposes. The judge believes that sharing “biographical, location, and contact information” falls within what the law permits the Department of Homeland Security, while still maintaining the prohibition on broader categories of data.
Medical information and more sensitive data remain protected
Despite the partial victory for the White House, the court order continues to enforce a strong restriction: ICE and the Department of Health (HHS) are prohibited from using medical histories, diagnoses, or other health data for immigration enforcement. Judge Chhabria criticized the agencies for failing to demonstrate why they would need medical information or data on individuals with legal status to enforce immigration law
The judge imposed a new precautionary measure against the government's attempt to obtain data on U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and other legal immigrants, particularly in mixed-status households. In his ruling, the magistrate warns that policies beyond basic information are "ambiguous" and do not appear to stem from a clear decision-making process, and therefore cannot take effect while the litigation remains open
The battle of the democratic states against "data mining"
According to POLITICO, the lawsuit was filed by California and 21 other Democratic Attorneys General after it was revealed that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began transferring Medicaid files to ICE in June and formalized a data-sharing agreement in July. The government's aim, according to the outlet, is to use this data to locate undocumented immigrants in states that self-fund coverage for the undocumented within their Medicaid programs
Although federal law excludes undocumented individuals from Medicaid, states are required to offer emergency Medicaid to cover only life-saving services, and that expenditure represents less than 1% of the program's total cost. State attorneys and immigrant rights advocates warn that using Medicaid as a source for detentions may cause entire families to avoid visiting doctors or enrolling due to fear, resulting in an increase in untreated illnesses and greater pressure on public safety hospitals.
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