Judge rules that Trump can share migrants’ Medicaid data with ICE, starting next month

WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Trump administration can resume sharing location information and public health insurance benefits with Immigration and Customs Enforcement beginning next month, a federal judge ruled.

This ruling allows ICE to use Medicaid data when going through the deportation process. The agency was blocked from using this data for months.

The Medicaid data can be used by ICE starting on Jan. 6, 2026.

“The sharing of such information is clearly authorized by law and the agencies have adequately explained their decisions,” U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria wrote in the ruling.

While illegal migrants cannot enroll in Medicaid benefits, some Democratic states like California and Illinois allow migrants to get benefits from the state through Medicaid programs.

Other agencies like Health and Human Services cannot share medical information of illegal migrants under a preliminary injunction.

“Beyond the basic information discussed above, the policies are totally unclear and do not appear to be the product of a coherent decision making process,” Judge Chhabria wrote.

When President Donald Trump was elected in 2024, one of his big issues was mass deportations. The Department of Homeland Security announced earlier this month that since Trump was elected, 2.5 illegal migrants left the U.S.

“The Trump Administration is shattering historic records with more than 2.5 million illegal aliens leaving the U.S. DHS has deported more than 605,000 illegal aliens and another 1.9 million have self-deported,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a press statement.

“Since January 20, DHS has arrested more than 595,000 illegal aliens.”