TheTrump administrationcan resume sharing some Medicaid patients' data with immigration authorities, a federal judge ruled on Dec. 29, delivering a win for theWhite House's aggressive deportation efforts.
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in California said in his ruling that the federal government can legally share "basic biographical, location, and contact information" with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The ruling will take effect on Jan. 6, according to court documents.
The development comes months after 20 states, including California, sued in July to prevent the federal government from sharing with ICE data obtained by the Department of Health and Human Services about immigrants receiving Medicaid benefits.
Behind the scenes of an ICE immigration arrest
"We are disappointed in the court's decision allowing for the sharing of some Medicaid data with ICE," said a statement from the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, one of the nearly two dozen Democratic officials who sued to block the information-sharing effort.
Chhabria noted in his ruling that while basic Medicaid information can be shared with ICE, the injunction still applies to other information, including data about immigrants legally in the country.
"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," Chhabria wrote.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that the ruling was "a victory for the rule of law and American taxpayers."
Undocumented immigrants are largely ineligible for federal health benefits, and they do not qualify for comprehensive Medicaid coverage.
But some undocumented immigrants can receive treatment for life-saving procedures in emergency rooms through Emergency Medicaid, and some states – including California – allow people to receive other state-funded benefits regardless of their immigration status.
The Trump administration has pushed for agencies across the federal government to share more information with immigration authorities to power the president's deportation agenda. Judges have blocked several of those efforts.
In September, a federal judge in California temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Agriculture from collecting data about recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP. In November, a federal judge in Washington, DC blocked the IRS from sharing tax return information with ICE.
Chhabria has not made a final ruling in the case centered around Medicaid data. A hearing is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 2, court records show.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:ICE can obtain some Medicaid data, federal judge in California rules
