Doctors say fear of immigration enforcement is keeping some patients away from critical care

Patients in Minnesota are canceling appointments and deferring critical health care needs because of fear of immigration enforcement as the federal crackdown continues, doctors say. Those physicians worry the impacts will last long after the surge subsides.    

Dr. Roli Dwivedi, who practices family medicine and also works at the University of Minnesota, explained health care organizations are still trying to get a sense of the scope, but she believes the number of cancellations could be as high as 50% or 60%. 

"People are not choosing to come because the fear is just so intense," said Dwivedi.

Anxiety about encountering U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents at clinics and hospitals cuts across immigrant communities, regardless of their immigration status, she told WCCO in an interview. 

She gave this as one example: a young boy needs dental work to stave off a serious infection, but his mother is too afraid to leave the house, as his father is detained. 

"As a clinician, when I'm thinking about this little kid, who is like 5 or 6 years old, and I know that they have abscess and I cannot provide care to them, it's heartbreaking," she said. "So it's like a constant trauma to health care, like we took an oath to provide care to people."

Dr. Janna Gewirtz O'Brien, president-elect of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said she and other doctors across the state have seen ICE agents around health care clinics and hospitals.
  
Last year, the Department of Homeland Security rescinded a previous Biden-era policy that specified those facilities — and schools— are protected areas where immigration enforcement should be limited to very narrow circumstances. Two Minnesota school districts are suing over that reversal.

"I've had patients look out the window, point outside and say, 'Hey, we can't leave right now, it doesn't really feel safe,' and points at ICE agent vehicles clearly outside of the doors. So absolutely, I think that is a justified fear," Gewirtz O'Brien said in an interview. 

In a statement provided to WCCO, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, "ICE does not conduct enforcement at hospitals — period," adding the agency only goes to a hospital if there is an "active danger to public safety."

"Of course, if we have a detainee we need to take to the hospital for medical care, we have officers accompany them for their monitoring, safety of the staff, and the public. This is standard procedure for all law enforcement agencies," McLaughlin said. "If anyone is impeding Minnesotans from making appointments or picking up prescriptions, it's violent agitators who are blocking roadways, ramming vehicles, and vandalizing property."

Gewirtz O'Brien worries there will be long-lasting trauma for her patients, even when the influx of agents leave Minnesota. So far, 700 are on their way out — though 2,000 remain, which is more than 10 times the normal amount. 

"That it is extremely traumatic and stressful to be worried about being hunted or feeling even unwelcome," Gewirtz O'Brien said. "But in this case, potentially being a victim of violence in their own communities."

Dwivedi's concern is that racial health disparities will only widen. Both doctors said this situation in Minnesota mirrors the pandemic in some ways.

"What happened during COVID? I mean, things got worse, so that's what is going to happen again. So I am worried," Dwivedi said. "In Minnesota, the disparities are highest, even though we get some of the best outcomes. But I think what is happening right now in the environment, it's going to make these disparities worse."

In a joint statement after the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer last month, several physicians organizations co-signed a statement condemning policies and actions "that restrict health care access."

"As Minnesota physicians and midwives, we are committed to the health and wellbeing of everyone in our state, regardless of immigration or citizenship status," the statement reads. "We know that people who are undocumented immigrants, naturalized citizens, and United States citizens since birth have been negatively impacted and harmed by the local presence of immigration officials."