Attorney General Brown’s Statement on the Trump Administration’s Unprecedented Move to Allow ICE to Access Medicaid Database

Published: 7/18/2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Media Contacts:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 410-576-7009​


Maryland is suing the Trump Administration to stop the illegal sharing of Medicaid data and to prevent private data from being used for immigration enforcement

  

BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today responded to reports that the Trump administration has illegally provided Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with access to the personal, sensitive data of Medicaid recipients. This revelation of this data sharing agreement, alarmingly, comes after Attorney General Brown joined a multistate coalition in filing a lawsuit​ challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ decision to provide ICE with broad access to individual personal health data. A hearing on the States’ motion for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for August 7, 2025.  

 

“This agreement is a grave breach of the public’s trust and a direct threat to the privacy and safety of families across our state. It undermines the core purpose of our healthcare system by turning it into a tool of surveillance rather than a source of care. By compromising the confidentiality between patients and providers, the federal government is jeopardizing the privacy of Medicaid recipients and placing immigrant families in an impossible position: choose between critical medical treatment or the risk of being swept into immigration enforcement. 

 

This reckless policy will deter people from seeking routine and urgent care, leading to worse health outcomes and placing an unsustainable burden on our hospitals and clinics when preventable conditions become emergencies. We will use every legal tool available to safeguard the personal medical information of our residents and uphold the integrity of our healthcare system. This is not only unlawful—it is a deeply harmful act that will separate families, sow fear in our communities, and put lives at risk.” 

  

###

​​