NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The federal government wants states to share COVID-19 patient data — including ID numbers — with the Centers for Disease Control and other "federal partners," a request Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday slammed as being part of a plan to deport undocumented immigrants.
The government recently sent out a "data sharing form agreement" to states including New York, Cuomo said in a teleconference Monday afternoon.
The agreement would require states to share data including race, ethnicity, sex and ID numbers for anyone who wishes to receive a COVID-19 vaccine — information that could be used for "immigration purposes," he said.
"Why would you possibly need a person's driver's license number, or Social Security number, or passport number before they receive a vaccine?" Cuomo asked. "There is no legitimate health reason."
"Who will you share it with among your other federal partners? Will you say that it won't be used for immigration purposes?" he added. "This is just another example of them trying to extort the state of New York to get information that they can use at the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to deport people."
The governor said he plans to send a letter to federal officials including President Donald Trump requesting more information about the agreement.
"This is an administration that has, from day one, with the wall, been relentless in their pursuit of undocumented people," he said. "What legitimate health reason do you have?"
"And that's the question I'm posing to President Trump and [U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex] Azar, and Dr. Redfield of the CDC today," he added.
