A federal judge just ruled that the government can share Medicaid data with ICE to help track down and deport undocumented immigrants—turning a healthcare safety net into a surveillance tool.

WHAT’S GOING ON: U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in California ruled Monday that “basic biographical, location, and contact information” of Medicaid participants can legally be shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

This partially overturns a preliminary injunction that had been protecting 20 states, according to NBC News. The Department of Homeland Security celebrated the ruling as “a victory for the rule of law and American taxpayers.”

THE DETAILS: The data-sharing arrangement started in June when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began handing over patient information to ICE. By July, the agencies had formalized it with an official agreement.

This reverses over a decade of policy—since at least 2013, ICE had a policy of not using Medicaid data for immigration enforcement. CMS says it will share “citizenship and immigration status, location, and phone numbers.”

BUT BUT BUT: Here’s the thing—undocumented immigrants are largely not even eligible for Medicaid. The only exception is emergency Medicaid, which covers lifesaving ER services regardless of status.

And how much does that cost? Less than 1% of the program’s total expenses, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. So this isn’t about “protecting taxpayers”—it’s about weaponizing healthcare.

OF COURSE: The judge did grant an injunction against sharing broader health data, and raised concerns about how the policy might affect citizens and legal residents in mixed-status households.

“The new policies are totally unclear,” Chhabria wrote, noting they “do not appear to be the product of a coherent decisionmaking process.” (SURPRISE.)

WHY IT MATTERS: California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office put it plainly: “When individuals signed up for Medi-Cal, they did so with the understanding that their data would not be used for purposes unrelated to administering the program.”

This ruling creates a chilling effect—people who need healthcare may now avoid it entirely out of fear that seeking help will lead to deportation. The administration isn’t just targeting undocumented immigrants; it’s turning the institutions meant to protect vulnerable people into arms of enforcement.