Last week, a leaked draft of an executive order from the Trump administration indicated that the administration might seek to deport undocumented immigrants determined to be a “public charge” — defined as someone who relies on certain federal, state, or local public assistance programs. This could mark a first step by the administration toward fulfilling president Trump’s pledge to rapidly deport millions of immigrants. Now activists and some officials across the country are scrambling to find ways that state governments can protect their undocumented residents.

For years, data sharing arrangements between state and federal agencies in charge of tracking, apprehending, and deporting immigrants have gone largely unnoticed. Some data…

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