TAMPA, FLORIDA - MAY 19: Palantir Technologies signage is displayed at the company's booth at Special Operations Forces (SOF) Week at the Tampa Convention Center on May 19, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. The annual conference brings together top officials from the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), defense contractors, and military leaders from partner nations around the globe.
Photo by Luke Sharrett/Getty Images
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shared improperly obtained Medicaid data with the data analytics company Palantir after federal health officials transferred the information to immigration authorities earlier this year, according to new court filings in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's data-sharing practices.
The filings, submitted by a coalition of more than 20 Democratic state attorneys general, say the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) improperly shared data in January that included millions of people, among them U.S. citizens and immigrants lawfully present in the country.
According to the filings, reported by NPR, ICE later provided the dataset to Palantir, whose ELITE platform helps agents identify noncitizens who may be subject to deportation by displaying addresses and other information. Palantir told news site that the dataset had since been purged at the government's direction.
The latest disclosures come weeks after U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria temporarily halted further data sharing for immigration enforcement after federal officials acknowledged that CMS had exceeded the scope of a court order governing what information could be shared with ICE.
The government has since disclosed additional instances in which the same dataset was mistakenly reshared and acknowledged that multiple ICE users retained copies despite earlier assurances that it had been deleted. Federal officials said they continue to search for and remove any remaining copies.
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ICE reportedly shared Medicaid data it wasn't supposed to have with Palantir
Photo by Vincent Feuray / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images
The attorneys general argued the repeated disclosures undermine confidence that federal agencies can safeguard sensitive health information. They also opposed a Justice Department request to broaden ICE's access to Medicaid data, writing that the agency's inability to account for previously shared records "undercuts any claim" that it should receive additional access.
The dispute stems from a lawsuit filed by 20 states on July 1 after the Department of Health and Human Services transferred Medicaid enrollment data to the Department of Homeland Security.
The states argued the move violated longstanding privacy protections and asked the court to bar the data from being used for immigration enforcement or population surveillance. Federal officials defended the transfer as lawful, saying it supports efforts to identify fraud and ensure that Medicaid benefits are not improperly provided to immigrants without legal status.
The case has also drawn renewed attention to the expanding role of Palantir in immigration enforcement. ICE officials recently said agents now have access to information on roughly 20 million people through systems powered by the company, allowing them to identify potential targets, associated addresses and nearby individuals more quickly.
According to ICE officials, the platform integrates dozens of government and commercial datasets into a single searchable system, significantly accelerating deportation-related investigations.
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Tags: Immigration enforcement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Medicaid