President Donald Trump’s administration handed over Medicaid data on millions of Americans to officials responsible for carrying out the president’s mass deportation effort, the Associated Press reported.
The sensitive personal data includes a person’s immigration status. It also includes information from states that allow non-citizens to enroll in state-funded Medicaid programs—such as California, Illinois, and Washington.
Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service were given just 54 minutes to follow the order on Tuesday, AP reported. Their efforts to halt the transfer, raising legal and ethical concerns, proved unsuccessful.
Two top aides to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushed the order through, according to emails obtained by the AP.
The data could make it all the more easier for ICE Barbie Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security to identify, locate, and deport undocumented migrants—most imminently in Southern California, where escalated ICE raids have sparked protests.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom—who has sparred with Trump over his handling of the Los Angeles protests against ICE operations—told the AP that he was concerned about how the data would be used.
“We deeply value the privacy of all Californians,” read a statement from Newsom’s office. “This potential data transfer brought to our attention by the AP is extremely concerning, and if true, potentially unlawful, particularly given numerous headlines highlighting potential improper federal use of personal information and federal actions to target the personal information of Americans.”
The Department of Health and Human Services told AP that the data transfer was legal, but would not explain how the information was to be used.
“With respect to the recent data sharing between CMS and DHS, HHS acted entirely within its legal authority—and in full compliance with all applicable laws—to ensure that Medicaid benefits are reserved for individuals who are lawfully entitled to receive them,” said spokesperson Andrew Nixon.
Meanwhile, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the outlet that it was part of “an initiative to ensure that illegal aliens are not receiving Medicaid benefits that are meant for law-abiding Americans.”
The Trump administration did not immediately return the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
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