Several states have joined President Trump's deportation efforts and are taking federal reporting requirements to immigration authorities a step further — by using their public health agencies as arms of enforcement.

North Carolina, in late April, became the latest member of a growing group of Republican-led states to require their public health agencies to flag recipients of Medicaid to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security if their legal status is in question.

It's a trend health policy researchers expect to spread among GOP-controlled states eager to join Mr. Trump in the federal crackdown on Medicaid fraud and illegal immigration. Already, at least four states — Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, and Wyoming — have passed similar laws, and lawmakers in others, such as Oklahoma and Tennessee, are weighing measures. In those six states, Republicans hold a power trifecta — both chambers of the legislature and the governor's office. 

"This is an issue that is very much on the political radar right now," said Carmel Shachar, a health policy researcher at Harvard Law School.

More than 75 million people are enrolled in Medicaid, the federal and state-run public health program for people with disabilities and low incomes, and its related Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides low-cost coverage for people under 19. Immigrants without legal status are ineligible for Medicaid benefits, but a swath of noncitizens qualify, such as green-card holders, asylees, and refugees. A quarter of children in the U.S., most of them citizens, live with an immigrant.

Yet the new reporting laws add a layer of risk for immigrants seeking healthcare in the U.S., where mandates from the White House have used Medicaid data to help identify and deport people.

Some of the state laws apply only to health agencies, such as in North Carolina. But the bill headed to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's desk would be comprehensive, requiring all state agencies to report people suspected of being in the U.S. without legal status. All seven state measures go beyond what's federally required, which is to cooperate with enforcement officers by providing personal information of recipients when asked.

In Louisiana, families with mixed immigration statuses have reported that the state's new law, enacted last year, deters them from applying for Medicaid for their kids with U.S. citizenship.

"I expect this law will lead to more families asking whether it is safe to seek healthcare, whether information can be shared with immigration authorities, and whether enrolling a child or seeking treatment could expose them to enforcement consequences," said Yesenia Polanco-Galdamez, a North Carolina immigration attorney.

North Carolina Republican lawmakers inserted their mandate for the state's health department as part of a bill that restored $319 million in Medicaid funds, which the legislature cut when it failed to pass a budget last year.

Starting in October, state employees will ask non-U.S. citizens receiving Medicaid for proof of their immigration standing and report those without "satisfactory" legal status to federal authorities. "This bill is designed not only to fund our critical needs today, but to begin looking at fraud, abuse issues we know exist within the system," Republican state Rep. Donny Lambeth said during a House debate on the bill.

Immigrants use much less welfare than people born in the U.S., according to an analysis by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, which also found noncitizens are much less likely to commit welfare fraud than citizens. State health agencies are already required to verify whether applicants' immigration statuses qualify them for Medicaid.

Several Republican leaders responsible for the bill did not respond to requests for comment. North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Hannah Jones said the agency is still trying to understand the impact of the new law.

In a 2025 KFF-New York Times survey, about half of adults who "likely" lack legal status said someone in their family has avoided seeking medical care because they were concerned their information could draw the attention of immigration enforcement.

Anabel Rosa, a North Carolina discrimination attorney, said immigrants "in process," or those waiting for legal authorization, generally already fear using government assistance for themselves.

"What I've learned from handling thousands of cases over the years is that most of the individuals who are in process pay for their own medical treatment out-of-pocket," Rosa said.

Such policies essentially force children who are U.S. citizens to go without health coverage or hospital care, said Leonardo Cuello, a researcher at Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families.

"When you do policies that target an immigrant, you may think that you are just targeting this one person in the family, but it's a really imprecise bomb that takes out the whole household," Cuello said.

The use of states' public health agencies to find immigrants who lack legal status is not the only strategy states have deployed. Some have passed laws looking to hospitals to collect and report such information. A 2023 Florida law that requires hospital staff to ask about patients' immigration status has made noncitizens hesitant to seek care, separated families, and caused psychological distress, according to a 2024 study by the University of South Florida. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, issued an executive order similar to Florida's law in 2024. 

Democratic states have pushed back against Trump administration policies that mine private medical information to target immigrants, with 21 signing on to a California lawsuit filed last year that attempts to prevent DHS from using Medicaid data for deportation efforts. A federal judge ruled recipients' identities could be shared, but medical information could not. Litigation is ongoing.

DHS' press office declined to provide a statement on the record.

After he signed the bill into law, North Carolina's Democratic Gov. Josh Stein issued a statement urging Republican lawmakers to protect Medicaid coverage for nearly 27,000 pregnant women and children who are lawfully present in the country. He did not respond to questions about the provision that requires the state to report immigrants without legal status.

Polanco-Galdamez said such laws have further eroded trust in healthcare systems among underserved families.

"At the end of the day, public health systems function best when people feel safe seeking medical care," Polanco-Galdamez said. "Policies that blur the line between healthcare access and immigration enforcement risk pushing vulnerable families further into the shadows."

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.