FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Doctors for America
PO Box: 21161
2300 18th St NW Lbby
Washington, DC 20009-9996
June 23, 2025
Doctors for America Condemns Inhumane Immigration Enforcement
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Doctors for America condemns in the strongest possible terms the renewed inhumane immigration enforcement practices being carried out by ICE under the Trump Administration in 2025. These raids, detentions, and family separations are both morally reprehensible and public health catastrophes.
As a nonpartisan organization of thousands of physicians and medical trainees committed to health justice, we bear witness to the trauma these policies inflict on our patients, our communities, and the healthcare system as a whole. Detaining individuals in overcrowded, unsanitary facilities without timely access to medical care directly endangers their lives. Children and families are experiencing severe psychological distress, toxic stress, and long-term harm to physical and mental health due to forced separations and the constant threat of deportation.
These actions disproportionately impact communities already marginalized by structural racism, xenophobia, and inadequate access to care. Increased fear of immigration enforcement deters individuals from seeking preventive services, vaccinations, or life-saving treatments, undermining public health and violating the ethical duty of medical professionals to care for all in need.
Doctors for America calls on the administration, Congress, state and local governments, and public health agencies to take the following urgent actions:
- End ICE collaborations with local law enforcement, Medicaid agencies, and healthcare facilities. – Prevent the use of patient information or healthcare settings to facilitate immigration enforcement. Bar ICE presence in hospitals, clinics, and health centers without a judicial warrant.
- Guarantee “safe zones” in all healthcare settings – Codify protections that prevent immigration enforcement in hospitals and clinics. Require written protocols ensuring staff do not grant ICE access without legal authorization.
- Establish independent oversight of medical care in immigration detention – Mandate regular inspections of ICE facilities by independent health bodies. Enforce consequences for health violations, ensure access to emergency care, and eliminate solitary confinement for medical or mental health needs.
- Defend patient privacy and prohibit misuse of health data – Stop efforts to access or share immigration status through Medicaid or other health programs. Uphold strict patient privacy protections and reject any use of health data for surveillance or enforcement purposes.
We urge our fellow healthcare providers to speak out, bear witness, and demand a healthcare system, and an immigration system, that affirms the sanctity of every human life.
Health is a human right.
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About Doctors for America:
Doctors for America mobilizes doctors and medical students to be leaders in putting patients over politics to improve the health of our patients, communities, and nation. DFA is an organization of over 27,000 physician and medical student advocates in all 50 states, representing all areas of specialization. DFA teaches physicians and medical students advocacy skills and does advocacy at a state and federal level. Our impact areas focus on access to affordable care, community health and prevention, and health justice and equity. DFA focuses solely on what is best for our patients, not on the business side of medicine, and does not accept any funding from pharmaceutical or medical device companies, which uniquely positions DFA as the organization that puts patients over politics and patients over profits. Find out more at doctorsforamerica.org and on X drsforamerica or Bluesky drsforamerica.bsky.social.