Stop the Attacks on Our Communities, Including Our Health

Given our mission to advance health and health care for all, Families USA stands in support and solidarity with the people of Minnesota and across the country to end the current Administration attacks on our communities done in the name of immigration enforcement — not just because of the recent deaths we mourn, but for the harm to the health and lives of so many for so long.

This Administration’s actions tell immigrant Americans that living in public — including engaging with the health care system — can expose you to violence, detention, or worse. These actions are antithetical to the principle that access to care should be universal, affordable, and equitable for all, free from fear — and these actions have an impact on the health and well-being of Americans well beyond those initially targeted.

Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse, dedicated to caring for his community. His last words were “Are you OK?” as he tried to help a woman who had been shoved to the ground by ICE agents. Renee Good was a mother of three whose last words were, “I’m not mad at you.” We don’t know the last words of Keith Porter Jr., a Los Angeles father shot outside his home on New Year’s Eve, or many others who died by the hands of or in the custody of ICE and Border Patrol officers in the last weeks and months.

We are outraged over their deaths, and over the Administration’s persistent attacks on the health and livelihoods of immigrants, including those with legal documentation. They are rooted in tactics that inflict trauma on children, families, and entire communities and that fuel fear of engagement with essential services, including health care.

This administration has worked to yank away health care and coverage from hundreds of thousands of immigrants who live and work here legally, including refugees, victims of trafficking, and youth who remember no other home. With our belief that our health system is stronger when everyone is included, Families USA opposed those actions, and fought against the President’s big budget bill that will push and price millions more Americans off of coverage, cutting Medicaid by over $900 billion in part to pay for the massive expansion of ICE.

When access to care is restricted, whether through policy changes to end coverage or fear of immigration enforcement, the impacts go far beyond the individual. The health of our broader community depends on people being able to seek preventive care, get diagnosed early when they are sick, and feel safe doing so without fear of detention or deportation. We should have learned in the pandemic that our public health depends on one another — including our friends, neighbors, and our essential workers in our community.

These ICE enforcement activities also negatively impact our health providers and the health system on which we all rely. These destructive policies are already increasing our uninsured population, meaning fewer paying patients and more uncompensated care, further putting financial pressure on health facilities to scale back services for all. Immigrants are caregivers, nurses, aides, and essential workers that keep our communities healthy and functioning. And at a time when we already have a shortage of caregivers, these administration actions target a disproportionate share of the workforce of our health system. ICE activities force hospital leaders, doctors, and nurses to divert scarce time and resources away from delivering high-quality health care to also protect their patients, their staff, and their institutions from ICE.

At the same time, immigrant communities and communities of color who face the constant threat of racial profiling and detention, are delaying or avoiding accessing health care services altogether. The result is more untreated illness, higher costs, and deepening health inequities that harm not only immigrant families, but the health and well-being of all our communities.

And if a community like Minneapolis (or Los Angeles, or Chicago, or Portland, or anywhere) is besieged by agents, causing even citizens and those with legal paperwork anxiety about being dragged from their homes and vehicles, separated from their family, or killed, that causes mental health and community trauma for everyone.

Families USA will continue to speak out against actions and policies that diminish access to care and erode trust in our public institutions. We stand in solidarity with our immigrant communities and advocacy partners who are working to support families in Minnesota and across the country, and will continue to call for accountability, transparency, and dignity for all.