"I'm an internal medicine physician, a primary care doctor for adults. Half the patients I see don't have any insurance and don't have the documentation they would need to get it. For the past seven years, I have seen such patients in a health clinic that's part of a community center in Baltimore, Maryland. I have worked at that clinic through President Donald Trump's first term, through President Joe Biden's presidency, and now into Trump's second term."
"ICE officers haven't yet shown up at our clinic (thank God, they haven't yet, but they could any day), but we live in fear that they may, as we learn about ICE raids occurring at businesses just blocks away. We are in a neighborhood targeted by ICE, in other words. I try to ask all my patients how they are experiencing the current political situation - that is the euphemism I use - and many of them have experiences in common."
Undocumented patients frequently avoid medical appointments because of fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, producing missed care and deteriorating chronic conditions. A community primary care clinic serving uninsured adults experiences patient disappearances, heightened anxiety, and disruptions in continuity of care as ICE activity increases nearby. Clinic operations and staff morale are affected by the threat of enforcement near healthcare sites. Lack of universal access to healthcare compounds barriers for undocumented populations. Community responses include know-your-rights trainings and clinic-level protective measures, but persistent enforcement-driven fear pushes care underground and undermines preventive and primary care.
Read at Truthout
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