Democrats Move to Shield Immigrant Data from ICE
The LINE Act and Home Together Act aim to cut off Trump’s new interagency access to benefits databases.
WASHINGTON — Two California Democrats are moving to cut off the Trump administration’s pipeline to sensitive personal data as federal agencies deepen their cooperation with ICE in support of mass deportations.
On Friday, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) introduced the Limiting ICE’s Nationwide Encroachment Act (LINE Act), which would prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from sharing Medicaid records with immigration enforcement.
The bill explicitly bars the disclosure of individually identifiable health information collected through Medicaid enrollment — including home addresses and medical histories — to ICE or any other agency for immigration purposes.
Her colleague Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) rolled out the Home Together Act, which would prevent the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from disclosing public housing records for immigration enforcement. The measure also prohibits HUD from compelling local housing authorities to share resident data and requires a public accounting of any prior disclosures to immigration officials.
The twin bills arrive just weeks after the Trump administration announced new interagency agreements giving DHS unprecedented access to personal data held by HHS, CMS, and HUD. Those agreements, according to administration officials, would allow ICE to identify undocumented residents by combing through benefits databases — a move Democrats blasted as a weaponization of the social safety net.
“These bills are about drawing a line in the sand,” Kamlager-Dove said at a press conference unveiling the legislation. “Trump wants to turn doctors, nurses, and housing officials into extensions of ICE. We’re saying no. Medicaid and housing assistance exist to help families survive, not to help deport them.”
Vargas underscored the risk to families already facing a housing crisis. “If immigrants fear their housing records could be weaponized against them, they will retreat into the shadows,” he said. “That makes our communities less safe, less stable, and more unequal.”
The administration’s moves have already sparked alarm among privacy advocates. A POLITICO investigation last month found that immigration enforcement agencies are increasingly tapping into massive personal data troves — while Congress has lagged on passing comprehensive data privacy laws.
Together, the LINE Act and Home Together Act reflect an emerging Democratic strategy to blunt Trump’s deportation campaign by choking off access to federal databases — a front line in what is quickly becoming Washington’s fiercest fight over data, privacy, and immigration enforcement.
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