Media outlets are reporting that the Trump administration has obtained Medicaid data for millions of people, and shared that information with ICE. This disgraceful breach of privacy includes private data for undocumented immigrants in Washington who have received health care access through the state’s Apple Health program.

Sattie Zapata-Nyachwaya, health policy program director for the ACLU of Washington, had the following statement:

“We are still waiting for complete and detailed information, but it’s clear that great harm has been done. That this data was shared with the federal government and with ICE is a gross violation of Washington residents' privacy, a violation of the promises HCA made to enrollees, and a flagrant misuse of this data.  Washington immigrants enrolled in the Apple Health expansion program with the expectation they would receive critical services that we all need to thrive and that their personal data would be protected – and the state promised as such, publicly and on its website. That promise was not kept. The community and advocates have long demanded a risk analysis and mitigation plan to protect the privacy and well-being of enrollees, and the state has not taken meaningful action responsive to the request. The state must treat this moment with the urgency it deserves and protect communities who put their faith and trust in a system that promised to protect them.”