Medicaid patient data on millions of Americans was improperly shared with immigration enforcement officials in January 2026, and immigration agents then forwarded that data to the technology firm Palantir, which uses it in an app called ELITE that displays the addresses of noncitizens subject to deportation, according to court filings made public on July 17, 2026. The disclosure came in a motion filed by more than 20 Democratic attorneys general who have been suing the Trump administration over its data-sharing agreement between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The revelation adds a significant new dimension to an ongoing legal dispute: not only was CMS data shared with ICE in violation of court oversight, but ICE then shared that data with a private contractor operating a law enforcement tool, extending the chain of disclosure beyond federal agencies to a for-profit technology company.
