Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shared improperly obtained Medicaid data with the analytics firm Palantir, according to new court filings. The data, initially transferred by Medicaid officials in January, included records of millions of people, some of whom were U.S. citizens or legal residents.

Improper Data Sharing Between CMS and ICE

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria had previously ruled that Medicaid could share limited immigrant data with ICE for enforcement purposes. However, in January, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) shared datasets that exceeded the court’s permissions, including a file on Minnesota refugees containing U.S. citizen data and another with millions of records transferred on January 7.

Chhabria temporarily halted the data-sharing agreement in late May after federal officials admitted to the breach. ICE was ordered to delete the improperly obtained files, but subsequent disclosures revealed persistent issues with compliance.

Palantir’s Role in Immigration Enforcement

Palantir operates an app called ELITE, used by ICE agents to track noncitizens for potential deportation. Court documents show that after receiving the January 7 dataset, ICE shared it with Palantir via a Microsoft Teams chat. While ICE claims the data was deleted, internal searches later found copies still in possession of six users.

In a declaration, ICE’s Alberto Briseno acknowledged "technological difficulties" in ensuring all versions of the file were purged. The agency stated it would continue efforts to delete any remaining copies.

Legal and Privacy Concerns

Democratic attorneys general, who sued the Trump administration over the data-sharing agreement, argued that repeated violations undermine trust in the system. Their motion noted that ICE’s inability to secure the data weakens claims for expanded access to Medicaid records.

The Department of Justice has requested that Chhabria’s order be broadened to allow ICE access to data on a wider category of noncitizens, including those without permanent legal status. Judge Chhabria had previously warned that continued improper sharing could halt the use of Medicaid data for deportation efforts entirely.

Palantir and the Department of Homeland Security have not responded to requests for comment on whether the dataset was fully deleted.