- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Government Efficiency requested access to a Medicare database to assist in locating undocumented immigrants, according to a Washington Post report. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has reportedly reviewed the request but has not confirmed whether it shared data.
- The database, known as the Integrated Data Repository, contains personal and claims information.
- President Donald Trump’s recent memorandum aims to crack down on illegal benefit claims, while Elon Musk and DOGE continue pushing for reductions in federal entitlement fraud.
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have reportedly requested access to a Medicare database as part of efforts to monitor undocumented immigrants, according to The Washington Post.
The Post reported Wednesday, April 16, that the agencies’ proposal involves using personal information from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) database to crack down on immigrants in the country illegally who may have found their way into the benefits system. However, CMS does not cover undocumented immigrants.
Internal documents and a source acquainted with the situation disclosed the plan, as reported by the Post.
Database could identify immigrant addresses
The database in question — known as the Integrated Data Repository (IDR) — contains detailed beneficiary information, including addresses and Medicare claims. According to the report, ICE has requested that CMS compare the Social Security numbers of suspected undocumented immigrants with Medicare data. The agency aims to determine whether migrants are wrongfully in the system and to obtain their current locations.
As of early April, CMS was still considering the request. It is not known if the agency has complied or how many individuals ICE is attempting to locate.
Trump memorandum targets illegal benefit access
President Donald Trump issued a memorandum on Tuesday, April 15, to prevent undocumented immigrants from receiving benefits under the Social Security Act, including Medicare. The order established a Medicare and Medicaid fraud prosecution program and expanded current Social Security enforcement efforts.
A White House spokesman said the proposal reflects Trump’s pledge “to protect Medicare for eligible beneficiaries.”
Elon Musk and DOGE’s involvement
Elon Musk previously criticized entitlement fraud, calling it a major area of federal waste.
“The waste and fraud in entitlement spending — which is most of the federal spending is entitlements — so, that’s, like, the big one to eliminate. That’s the, sort of half-trillion, maybe $6-700 billion a year,” Musk told Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow.
DOGE has reportedly involved itself in efforts to gain access to sensitive federal databases across various agencies in efforts to find fraud, waste and abuse. This has raised some concerns for Democrats over the outside group accessing sensitive government files.
Republicans have largely supported DOGE’s efforts to reduce the federal government’s size. Its coordination with ICE appears to align with the Trump administration’s efforts to curb illegal immigration and government waste.
