JAMA Medical News ICE Raids Are Jeopardizing Health Care Access
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Feb 13, 2026 Rita Rubin, Lead Senior Staff Writer who covers health policy and clinical topics, explains how recent ICE actions are disrupting care. She discusses rescinded protections that exposed hospitals, patients skipping appointments or shifting to virtual care, arrests near medical sites, community health programs stepping in, and controversies over CMS data sharing and legal pushback.
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Hospitals No Longer Feel Like Safe Spaces
- Rescinding ICE's 'sensitive locations' policy removed hospitals' safe-space status for immigrants.
- That change has led to missed appointments, virtual-only visits, and increased home-birth consideration.
House Calls Fill Care Gaps During Raids
- Minneapolis physicians reported higher no-show rates and requests for virtual visits after ICE activity increased.
- St. John's Community Health responded by making hundreds of weekly house calls to reach undocumented patients.
Arrest Outside A Hospital Parking Lot
- A family with a sick child was arrested by ICE in a Portland hospital parking lot before entering the ED.
- The family was detained for three weeks despite having a pending asylum case.