García, Ocasio-Cortez, DeGette Send Letter Urging HHS Secretary Kennedy to Immediately Cease Sharing Non-citizen Medicaid Data with Immigration Enforcement Officials

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Representatives Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), and Diana DeGette (CO-01), who serves as ranking member for the Subcommittee on Health on the Energy and Commerce Committee, led 28 colleagues in a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. regarding the reported sharing of non-citizen Medicaid enrollee data with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for immigration enforcement purposes.

“We write to urge CMS to immediately cease any data sharing with DHS and to direct DHS to destroy any individually identifiable health information transmitted by CMS to DHS,” wrote the lawmakers. “We are particularly concerned that these latest actions will have a chilling effect and jeopardize access to services for those who rely on Medicaid and other public programs for lifesaving care, including the 5.5 million U.S. citizen children in mixed status families.”

Reporting from the Associated Press (AP) details new efforts by the Trump administration to access and share the private, personally identifiable information of individuals residing in the U.S. According to the AP, top advisors at HHS ordered the release of Medicaid enrollees’ sensitive personal information to DHS despite nonpartisan expert officials’ reported concerns that sharing such data would raise considerable ethical concerns and could violate federal law, including the Social Security Act and the Privacy Act of 1974.

At the end of the letter, the lawmakers posed the following questions: 

1. Please detail any and all communication with state Medicaid officials regarding the Trump administration’s efforts to obtain this data, including the exact information requested from state Medicaid agencies subject to the audit described in “SUBJECT: Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders.”13 In addition: 

   a. Please include the parameters outlining for which Medicaid applicants or enrollees CMS requested information (i.e., did CMS obtain data specifically on individuals for whom emergency Medicaid payments were made to hospitals, individuals who received statefunded health benefits, individuals who are lawfully present and eligible for Medicaid and/or Children’s Health Insurance Program benefits);

   b. Please specify if such requested information included personally identifiable information such as name and address and, if so, what such information; and c. 

   c. As of the date of your response, please specify which states have provided such information as well as which states have received inquiries.

2. Please provide copies of any data sharing agreements between CMS and any state for which CMS has provided data to DHS.

3. What, if any, data was requested from HHS by DHS and for what purpose?

   a. On what date did DHS request such data?

4. What, if any, data was shared by HHS with DHS and in what format?   
5. What legal authority, if any, is CMS citing for the release of this personally identifiable information to DHS?

6. Please share the below correspondence:

   a. Any and all communication from HHS and CMS to DHS regarding the transfer of this data.

   b. Any and all communication within HHS about sharing this data, including the memo prepared by CMS staff detailing their objections to the sharing of personal information of non-citizen enrollees.

7. Did HHS and DHS enter into a data sharing agreement or any other memorandum of understanding pertaining to the use of Medicaid data or resources for the purposes of immigration enforcement? If so, please provide a copy of that agreement. If not, please explain why the agencies did not enter into a data sharing agreement or other memorandum and describe what, if any, policies and practices are in place regarding the storage, retrievability, access controls, retention, and disposal of the data, as required by the Privacy Act of 1974.

They requested that Secretary Kennedy provide written responses by no later than Monday, July 21, 2025.

In addition to Reps. García, Ocasio-Cortez, and DeGette, the letter was signed by Reps. Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Cleo Fields (LA-06), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Robin Kelly (IL-02), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Doris Matsui (CA-07), James McGovern (MA-02), Gregory Meeks (NY-05), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Norton (DC), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Emily Randall (WA-06), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Norma Torres (CA-35), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Lori Trahan (MA-03) and Nydia Velázquez (NY-07). 

The full text of the letter can be found here.