Maryland’s attorney general is condemning the Trump administration’s decision to share the personal information of 79 million Medicaid enrollees with immigration authorities.

“This agreement is a grave breach of the public’s trust and a direct threat to the privacy and safety of families across our state. It undermines the core purpose of our healthcare system by turning it into a tool of surveillance rather than a source of care,” Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a statement Friday.

In a statement to NBC News, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin described the latest data-sharing agreement between her agency and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as “an initiative” to ensure undocumented immigrants don’t access Medicaid benefits. The Associated Press first reported the new agreement, which hasn’t been made public yet.

Immigrants who are in the country illegally, and some lawfully present immigrants, are already barred from enrolling in Medicaid.

Under the agreement, officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement will use Medicaid data to get identity and location information of people ICE believes are in the country unlawfully.

Brown’s office said news of the data sharing agreement “alarmingly” comes after Maryland joined a multi-state lawsuit challening the Department of Health and Human Services’ decision to give ICE broad access to individual personal health data. A hearing on the states’ motion for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for Aug. 7.

“This reckless policy will deter people from seeking routine and urgent care, leading to worse health outcomes and placing an unsustainable burden on our hospitals and clinics when preventable conditions become emergencies,” Brown said in his statement. “We will use every legal tool available to safeguard the personal medical information of our residents and uphold the integrity of our healthcare system. This is not only unlawful—it is a deeply harmful act that will separate families, sow fear in our communities, and put lives at risk.”

WASHINGTON – A Maryland man is now facing federal charges after he allegedly made multiple threats toward Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.  

The charges

What we know:

Seth Jason, a resident of Edgewater, was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police and the Anne Arundel Police Department on the morning of July 17.

Jason will make his initial appearance this afternoon before a magistrate judge in U.S. District Court.

He’s been charged with influencing a federal official by threatening a family member, influencing a federal official by threat, interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure, and anonymous telecommunications harassment.

The backstory:

According to the indictment, between Oct. 11, 2023, and Jan. 21, 2025, Jason made threatening calls to the Dalton and Rome District Offices for Rep. Greene.

Following an investigation, U.S. Capitol Police discovered that the phone calls were made from various phone lines connected to studios and control rooms at Voice of America headquarters, where Jason had worked as a longtime employee. 

In eight calls made over fifteen months, Jason threatened the use of firearms to kill Greene, her staff and their families.

Congresswoman responds

Full statement:

“For 15 months, I received terrifying death threats from one individual who worked alarmingly close to my office building at the Voice of America. That kind of sustained, targeted harassment is deeply disturbing. I truly feared for my life, as I do with all of the death threats I receive. I want to thank U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, Senior Advisor Kari Lake, the Capitol Police, and the prosecutors who took this threat seriously and acted decisively to stop someone who was planning to kill me. Threatening an elected official, their family, or their staff is not free speech; it’s a crime, and it must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. My family and I are incredibly grateful. Justice must be served.”

The company that plans to build a controversial power line, known as the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, through Baltimore, Frederick and Carroll Counties has filed an additional lawsuit to get access to more people’s property.

PSEG filed the suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court against nearly 200 landowners.

It says it needs access to the private land so it can survey the property.

In June, in a separate lawsuit, a judge granted PSEG the right to access more than 100 pieces of private property.

A group that is fighting the power line is appealing that decision and calls the new lawsuit a direct assault on property rights.

In a statement, PSEG said it had reached out to landowners to get voluntary access agreements.

“Because many landowners refused our efforts, and in order to obtain this survey data information, PSEG previously sought and has obtained a court order confirming that State law allows us to access a number of properties to complete the required surveys,” PSEG wrote. “That process continues with the additional properties included in today’s (Tuesday’s) filing.”

PJM Interconnection, which runs the electricity grid that serves Maryland, selected PSEG for the job. It says the MPRP is necessary because of an increased demand for electricity coming at the same time old power plants are being retired.

But when the project was made public one year ago the opposition grew quickly and has been intense. Opponents of the project jammed public hearings in the three affected counties.

In a statement Joanne Frederick, the President of Stop MPRP, Inc. said, “Hundreds of landowners across Maryland are now being dragged into federal court simply for saying no to forced corporate access and defending their right to control what happens on their land.”

Maryland’s Public Service Commission will decide if the MPRP will be built.

This story may be updated.