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Twenty Democrat-led states have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), seeking to prevent the agency from reviewing whether Medicaid funds have been used to cover individuals living in the country illegally. The legal challenge, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, targets a new initiative by federal health officials who, beginning in June, started sharing Medicaid data with DHS as part of a broader review.

According to a report from NPR, the lawsuit alleges that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) directed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide DHS with sensitive information about Medicaid enrollees in multiple states, including California, Illinois, Washington, and Washington, D.C. “The Trump Administration has upended longstanding privacy protections with its decision to illegally share sensitive, personal health data with ICE,” Bonta said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.

“In doing so, it has created a culture of fear that will lead to fewer people seeking vital emergency medical care.”

The lawsuit argues that the data sharing arrangement violates confidentiality provisions and undermines trust in the healthcare system. States involved in the legal action claim that Medicaid recipients’ private information — including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, immigration status, and healthcare details — is being improperly shared with immigration authorities.

The initiative, however, has drawn attention from Republicans, who have questioned whether taxpayer-funded Medicaid is being used to cover non-citizens, including illegal aliens. The issue has become a focal point in debates over President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which includes provisions aimed at tightening Medicaid eligibility requirements and eliminating access to benefits for individuals in the country illegally.

Senator Eric Schmitt stated that the legislation would remove roughly 1.4 million illegal immigrants from Medicaid rolls.

The effort has been framed by supporters as a move to preserve taxpayer-funded programs for legal residents and citizens, and to curb abuse of public resources. Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna highlighted the contradiction between Democratic claims and state-level policy. Luna responded to comments by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who had posted on X: “Not one federal dollar currently goes to giving undocumented people Medicaid and you know that. What DOES need to be said is that Republicans are set to kick 17 million Americans off their health insurance.”

Luna pushed back by pointing to public data and state policies that permit Medicaid-like benefits for certain low-income immigrants, including those without legal status, in states such as California and Illinois.

Even NPR acknowledged in its coverage that some states allow immigrants who do not qualify for Medicaid to access publicly funded health programs. These programs are state-funded, but the data surrounding these enrollees is shared with CMS and now, under the new initiative, with DHS.

The lawsuit’s plaintiffs argue that the data-sharing effort could discourage immigrants from seeking care. Meanwhile, federal officials have defended the data exchange as necessary to ensure compliance with eligibility rules and to verify the proper use of federal healthcare dollars.

As legal proceedings unfold, DHS has not indicated whether it will pause its inquiry into Medicaid misuse. The Trump administration has continued to signal support for further oversight into how federal health funds are distributed across states. The case is expected to raise broader questions about privacy, federal oversight, and the balance between public health access and immigration enforcement. No timeline has been provided for when the courts may issue a ruling on the matter.

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Archaeologists working at an ancient site in northern Israel uncovered proof of the Biblical Battle of Megiddo from the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament.

Artifacts uncovered at the site, namely ancient Egyptian pottery, points toward the famed battle where the King of Judah, Josiah, fought against the army of Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II, and died in 609 B.C., according to Fox News. The site, known today as Tel Megiddo, was once a city, and has held various settlements from the Cooper Age through to World War I.

While it is largely known that the battle took place at the site, “significant quantities” of Egyptian-produced vessels, which date back to the late 7th century B.C., now prove to the world of science that the events described in the Old Testament are true. While some argue the pieces were imported to the area by trade routes, researchers like Dr. Assaf Kleiman think they were brought in with troops from Necho’s army.

Kleiman noted the “crude production technique, functional mixture, and the lack of similar evidence in nearby settlements” as evidence for the relationship to the military. “The exposure of so many Egyptian vessels, including fragments of serving bowls, cooking pots, and storage jars, is an exceptional phenomenon,” Kleiman told the outlet. “We, therefore, understand it as representing Egyptians who settled at Megiddo in the late 7th century, maybe as part of an army force that arrived at the site following the collapse of the Assyrian Empire.”

More Proof …

Greek pottery was also found at the site, suggesting Greek mercenaries were working with the Egyptian army, which was also common at the time. “The possibility of the participation of such mercenaries in the killing of Josiah may be hinted [at] in prophetic works in the Bible,” Kleiman continued.

The broken vessels and other pieces were likely left as litter after the battle. And while there is no other non-Biblical proof of Josiah, his existence “has never been doubted in biblical and historical scholarship.

“We can also note that literacy was more common in that era, and thus his reign was most likely documented by scribes who witnessed the events in real time,” he added. “Evidence for Necho’s presence in the Levant and the battle against the Babylonians in Carchemish, where the Egyptians lost, is documented in the Babylonian chronicles as well as in the Bible, in Jeremiah and Kings.”

Book of Revelation: Megiddo

The site is also known colloquially as “Armageddon,” which is closely related to the Hebrew phrase
“Har Megiddo,” Fox added. In the Old Testament, the site is referenced in relation to the battle, but it also appears in the Book of Revelation.

Megiddo is said to be the site where the Battle of Armageddon is fought between the Kings of Earth and God, Fox argued, but it is only lightly and indirectly referenced in the Book of Revelation (16:16). The chapter described the end times, and the Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath, ending in an almighty earthquake, hundred-pound hailstones falling from the sky, and the city being split into three parts, with “the cities of the nation collapsed” (Revelation 16:19).