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WASHINGTON, D.C. – America First Legal (AFL) has uncovered a lack of records from multiple states currently suing the Trump Administration, revealing they may have insufficient evidence to support their allegations in their lawsuit challenging the sharing of Medicaid beneficiary data with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
AFL’s discoveries came just as the Trump Administration largely prevailed in a preliminary challenge to information sharing. Earlier this week, a federal judge ruled that the Administration may share Medicaid information regarding illegal immigrants — including citizenship and immigration status — with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers beginning in January 2026.
On July 1, 2025, 20 states sued the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), accusing it of secretly transferring beneficiary data (names, addresses, Medicaid IDs, immigration status, etc.) to DHS. The states include:
California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
The plaintiffs also alleged that the transfer of data would cause irreparable harm by leading to the disenrollment of immigrant communities from Medicaid programs, reducing the use of emergency and preventive care services, and imposing financial burdens on healthcare providers and states.
To determine whether these claims of injury are true and accurate, AFL filed multiple public records requests with the plaintiff states, requesting:
All audits from March 2025 through the present show data leaks or unauthorized disclosure of Medicaid beneficiary data shared with the federal government. All records from March 2025 through the present documenting data leaks or unauthorized disclosures of Medicaid beneficiary information shared with the federal government. All records, including the results of any audit or investigation, showing the sharing of state Medicaid beneficiary data with any immigration authority within the state. All records show that DOGE’s activities from January 2025 to the present interfered with the state’s ability to administer its Medicaid program. All records from January 2025 to the present show that the state incurred increased uncompensated costs for hospital care in which a treatment or service was not paid for by an insurer or patient, yet is still mandated to be provided by EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act). All records from January 2025 to the present show that Medicaid-receiving hospitals in the state have been able to serve fewer patients in need. All records from January 2025 to the present show that State healthcare providers have faced increased administrative costs and burdens. All records from January 2025 to the present show that noncitizens and individuals in mixed-status families have deferred primary or preventative healthcare. From January 2025 to the present, all documented deaths among undocumented immigrants and their children have been attributed to a lack of medical care. From January 2025 to the present, all records show that the state incurred greater costs and burdens to conduct outreach efforts for enrolling families and children in federally funded healthcare programs. All records from January 2025 to the present show that noncitizens were more reluctant to enroll in fully state-funded public health insurance programs.
So far, Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, the Rhode Island Health & Human Services Department, the Hawaii Department of Health and Human Services, and the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System have responded. All claimed that they lack records responsive to AFL’s requests seeking to obtain evidence of actual harm:
Colorado Department of Health Care Policy replied, “The Department has searched for records and is unable to locate the records as described by your request.” Rhode Island Health & Human Services Department replied, “The Rhode Island Health and Human Services Department has no responsive records.” Hawaii Department of Human Services replied that “Hawaii’s Department of Human Services has no responsive records or doesn’t maintain responsive records.” The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System replied, “The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) has no public records that are responsive to your request.”
AFL has previously exposed California and Washington’s lack of standing in their own cases against the Trump Administration. Specifically, AFL unveiled California and Washington’s lack of evidence supporting their claims of injury in an attempt to block President Trump’s Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” and his Birthright Citizenship Executive Order, “Protecting The Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.”
These states’ responses to AFL’s records requests repeatedly reveal a lack of standing. AFL will continue to expose baseless litigation efforts attempting to undermine the America First agenda.
“Federal courts lack jurisdiction over cases where plaintiffs fail to plead concrete, particularized injuries (i.e., have legal standing). It is Hornbook constitutional law that claims about potential future harm lack concreteness. And yet the records obtained by America First Legal signal precisely that,” said Dan Epstein, Vice President at America First Legal.
Read more about the investigation here.
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