Medicaid Data Sharing With ICE: Court Limits on the HHS–DHS Agreement

Status: Partially blocked — California v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (3:25-cv-05536-VC (N.D. Cal.))

A federal judge has partially blocked the data-sharing arrangement between HHS/CMS and ICE. Under a December 29, 2025 preliminary injunction, HHS may share only six categories of basic information — citizenship, immigration status, address, phone number, date of birth, and Medicaid ID — and only about people who are not lawfully present, in the plaintiff states. The court continues to block the sharing of broader or medical data and of any data about U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents from those states. This followed an August 12, 2025 order that had blocked the data sharing more broadly. The limited sharing resumed January 5, 2026, and the case remains in active litigation.

Next step: Further proceedings on the plaintiffs' March 26, 2026 motion to enforce the injunction (which alleges HHS shared off-limits data) and continued litigation on the merits. No trial or final-ruling date was set as of June 30, 2026.

Verified against the primary source as of 2026-07-25 — status can change with a single court ruling. Official source.

What’s happening

A federal judge has partially blocked the data-sharing arrangement between HHS/CMS and ICE. Under a December 29, 2025 preliminary injunction, HHS may share only six categories of basic information — citizenship, immigration status, address, phone number, date of birth, and Medicaid ID — and only about people who are not lawfully present, in the plaintiff states. The court continues to block the sharing of broader or medical data and of any data about U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents from those states. This followed an August 12, 2025 order that had blocked the data sharing more broadly. The limited sharing resumed January 5, 2026, and the case remains in active litigation.

Who it affects

Affects Medicaid enrollees and their families in the plaintiff states (a coalition led by California), especially mixed-status households. It addresses whether immigration authorities can obtain Medicaid enrollment information for immigration enforcement. Under the current order, DHS cannot receive medical records or data about U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents from those states; only limited biographical and contact data about people who are not lawfully present may be shared.

How it got here

  1. Jun 2025 CMS began sharing Medicaid enrollee data with ICE for immigration enforcement, departing from a policy of not doing so that had been in place since at least 2013.
  2. Jul 1, 2025 A coalition of states led by California filed suit in the Northern District of California to stop the arrangement, raising claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Privacy Act, and HIPAA.
  3. Aug 12, 2025 Judge Vince Chhabria issued a first preliminary injunction barring HHS from sharing, and DHS from using, the plaintiff states' Medicaid data for immigration enforcement, finding the policy change was likely 'arbitrary and capricious.'
  4. Dec 29, 2025 A second preliminary injunction allowed sharing of only six categories of basic data about people who are not lawfully present, while continuing to block broader or medical data and any data about U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. The limited sharing was permitted to resume January 5, 2026.
  5. Mar 26, 2026 Plaintiffs filed a motion to enforce the injunction, alleging HHS shared a dataset with ICE that included off-limits information, potentially about lawfully present individuals.

What to watch next

Further proceedings on the plaintiffs’ March 26, 2026 motion to enforce the injunction (which alleges HHS shared off-limits data) and continued litigation on the merits. No trial or final-ruling date was set as of June 30, 2026.

Official sources

This page is general information about ongoing litigation, not legal advice. A case’s status can change with a single ruling, and outcomes can turn on facts specific to each person. For advice on a specific situation, consult a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative.