Four Senate Democrats are demanding the Trump administration immediately cease sharing Medicaid enrollee information with immigration enforcement agencies, alleging the administration has repeatedly violated a federal court order designed to protect sensitive health data.
In separate letters sent to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) accused the administration of "lawlessness and abuse of sensitive health information" that "brazenly infringes on enrollee privacy." The senators are calling for an immediate halt to what they describe as unlawful data transfers between HHS and DHS, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The dispute centers on a December federal injunction that placed strict limits on the type of data HHS could share with immigration authorities. Under that order, HHS was only permitted to share basic biographical information—such as addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, and citizenship or immigration status—and ICE was explicitly barred from collecting information on lawful permanent residents or U.S. citizens.
However, court filings reveal that on January 7, HHS provided ICE with a spreadsheet containing Medicaid data on enrollees in the plaintiff states, including information on individuals lawfully present in the country. The administration admitted the transmission was "inconsistent with the injunction" and that the data "should not have been shared."
Just twelve days later, on January 19, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent ICE a spreadsheet containing biographical information on nearly 6,000 refugees in Minnesota. After being pressed to enforce the injunction, CMS determined that it had improperly transmitted data on at least 50 U.S. citizens or nationals, as well as data on several refugees protected by the court's order.
Then, on June 9, HHS sent the same information again—marking the third such incident. The administration has characterized the transfers as inadvertent and claimed that ICE deleted the file from DHS systems. But the senators are not convinced. "Three instances of data sharing in violation of a court order is not an accident," they wrote.
The senators are demanding detailed answers from both agencies, including the names of officials responsible for the data sharing, communications and warnings between HHS and ICE about whether U.S. citizen data was being shared, and whether the administration has tracked how many Medicaid records of U.S. citizens or nationals have been shared with ICE.
"An agency that cannot demonstrate control over enrollees' most sensitive data—and that appears unable or unwilling to comply with a federal court order—breaches Congress's trust and undermines the integrity of the Medicaid program itself," the Democrats wrote.
This latest dispute adds to growing tensions over the administration's immigration enforcement tactics, which have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and advocacy groups. The 2026 governor races are already shaping up as a potential Democratic counterweight to Trump's policies, and this data-sharing controversy could become a flashpoint in those campaigns.
The senators have given the agencies a deadline to respond, signaling they are prepared to escalate the matter if they do not receive satisfactory answers. The administration has not yet publicly commented on the senators' demands.
