20 US states sue Trump administration over leaking personal data to immigration agency

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on March 20, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

California, leading a multistate coalition, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump over leaking citizens' personal information.

Charging the Trump administration with illegally sharing Medicaid recipients' health data with immigration enforcement agencies, the 59-page lawsuit document was filed to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and their departments listed as defendants.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta led the state attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington in filing the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs challenged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) granting "unfettered access" to individuals' health records to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which houses the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), saying the decision violated privacy laws and longstanding practices separating Medicaid information from law enforcement.

They highlighted that the Trump administration's illegal actions created fear and confusion among communities that will lead noncitizens and their family members to disenroll or refuse to enroll in emergency Medicaid. Under these circumstances, some patients may not get the emergency health services they need and will suffer fatal health consequences as a result.

"The Trump Administration has upended longstanding privacy protections with its decision to illegally share sensitive, personal health data with ICE. In doing so, it has created a culture of fear that will lead to fewer people seeking vital emergency medical care," Bonta said in a press release published by his office, noting that the lawsuit was aimed at ensuring Medicaid data would not be used for immigration enforcement purposes.

"I'm sickened by this latest salvo in the President's anti-immigrant campaign. We're headed to court to prevent any further sharing of Medicaid data," he said.

According to California's Department of Justice, Medicaid is an essential source of health insurance for lower-income individuals and particularly underserved population groups. As of January 2025, 78.4 million people were enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program across the United States.

The Medicaid program allows each participating state to develop and administer its unique health plans. In California, the most populous state in the country, the Medi-Cal program, the state's version of Medicaid, provides healthcare coverage for one out of three residents, including more than 2 million noncitizens.

Medicaid Act, enacted by the Congress in 1965, and other U.S. federal laws defined the personal healthcare data collected by the program is confidential and could be only shared in certain narrow circumstances that benefit public health and the integrity of the Medicaid program itself, the lawsuit document said, noting that the mass transfer of data between the HHS and the DHS is illegal.

Moreover, it said reports indicated that the U.S. federal government plans to create a sweeping database after collecting data from the HHS to use for "mass deportations" and other large-scale immigration enforcement purposes.