Attorney General William Tong today issued the following statement after the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction finding Connecticut and a multistate coalition were likely to succeed on their claim that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) decision to provide unfettered access to individual personal health data to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which houses Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), violated the Administrative Procedure Act’s prohibition on arbitrary and capricious rulemaking. The preliminary injunction blocks DHS from using Medicaid data obtained from plaintiff states for immigration enforcement purposes, and blocks HHS from sharing Medicaid data obtained from coalition states with DHS for immigration enforcement purposes. The preliminary injunction will remain in place either until 14 days after HHS and DHS complete a reasoned decision-making process that complies with the Administrative Procedure Act, or until litigation concludes.

“Donald Trump does not need your private medical records to secure the border. ICE does not need your immunization records, your cancer diagnosis, your prescriptions, or your weight. This rushed and sloppy plan was about one thing—bullying immigrant families away from seeking healthcare. And that makes all of us less healthy and less safe. This is a major early victory, but we are prepared to keep fighting for as long as it takes to protect our privacy and public health,” said Attorney General Tong.