Court Struggles with Data Sharing Issues Between Medicaid and ICE

In May 2026, ICE agents stood outside an immigrant detention center in Newark, New Jersey. A new court filing reveals that Medicaid officials improperly shared data about millions of individuals with ICE in January. ICE subsequently passed this data to Palantir, a data analytics firm. This court filing prompted more than 20 Democratic attorneys general to file a motion against the Trump administration’s data-sharing agreement between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and ICE.

Palantir operates an app called ELITE, allowing ICE agents to view addresses of noncitizens who may face deportation. The issue of data sharing first surfaced when U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria ruled in December that health officials could share certain Medicaid data with ICE about immigrants lacking lawful status from suing states. Information such as home addresses, birth dates, and immigration status was included.

Judge Chhabria, an Obama appointee, temporarily halted data sharing for immigration enforcement in late May. This action followed acknowledgment by federal officials that CMS shared more data with ICE than permitted by the court order. This dataset unexpectedly included U.S. citizens and legal immigrants. ICE was instructed to delete this improperly shared data.

A hearing is scheduled for August to clarify data categories lawfully shareable with ICE. The Justice Department disclosed additional improper data sharing in a filing last week. CMS mistakenly shared the same dataset with ICE that had been sent in January during efforts to provide data from states not part of the lawsuit.

Alberto Briseno, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations section chief, stated that ICE personnel deleted the discovered file, ensuring it wasn’t used for law enforcement. Subsequent searches revealed six users retained a copy of the January dataset.

Briseno emphasized the technological challenges in ensuring all variations of the file were identified and removed. He declared ICE’s continued efforts to delete any future copies found.

The Department of Justice seeks to expand Judge Chhabria’s order, allowing ICE wider access to data on noncitizens, potentially including all immigrants lacking permanent status. Democratic attorneys general resist this expansion, noting ICE’s inability to identify Medicaid records hampers its claim for more data access.

Concerns about repeated order violations complicate states’ trust in defendants’ data security compliance. These challenges impact Medicaid providers, enrollees, and public assurance regarding privacy.

Palantir did not comment on whether it had deleted the dataset shared by ICE. The Department of Homeland Security also refrained from commenting on data transfers to Palantir. California Deputy Attorney General Anna Rich shared discovery documents showing a redacted transcript of ICE personnel requesting Palantir delete the file.

In an April 30 hearing, Judge Chhabria warned federal government misuse of Medicaid data for deportation would halt if improper data-sharing persisted. He stated, “If the federal government cannot be sufficiently careful then it can’t use the information, ok?”