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Speakers urge council to adopt resolution opposing federal ICE access to Medicaid data
Summary
Multiple public speakers asked the council to pass a resolution condemning federal immigration enforcement tactics after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services allowed ICE access to Medicaid records; speakers cited models from other cities and asked Charlottesville to protect immigrant residents.
Several community speakers urged Charlottesville City Council to adopt a local resolution condemning what they described as federal overreach after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) signed an agreement enabling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to access personal data from Medicaid records. Speakers said the CMS action gives ICE access to names, race/ethnicity, birth dates, addresses and Social Security numbers for Medicaid recipients.
Alicia Lenahan (County resident) told the council that HHS announced changes affecting noncitizen eligibility for a wide range of federal programs and that CMS had agreed to share Medicaid enrollment data. "ICE now knows who and where they are," she said, urging the city to use a model resolution adopted by Huntington Park, California, to state that local police and city staff should work within legal bounds to document and guard against federal overreach.
Emily Kingsley, a Fry Springs resident, said police leadership has stated Charlottesville Police Department will not cooperate with ICE and called for the city to adopt a stronger local stance. Kingsley pointed to recent actions elsewhere — King County Council's restrictions on sharing civilian data with ICE, and Long Beach's emergency fund for immigrant families — as examples local officials could follow. "I call on the Charlottesville City Council to put up those defenses, to approve the no collusion with ICE resolution," she said.
Speakers noted that HHS and USDA guidance could remove undocumented immigrants from eligibility for programs such as Medicaid-covered emergency services, Head Start, mental health and substance use programs and several nutrition assistance programs. Speakers asked council to consider both a resolution condemning the federal actions and local steps including signage, noncooperation policies and emergency support funds.
Council did not introduce a resolution, take a vote, or schedule a specific staff follow-up during the meeting. Speakers said they were circulating a petition in the audience in support of the resolution.
