A security guard is held in front of the community health clinic of St. John’s in South Los Angeles.
Jackie Fortiér / Kff Health News
hide
tilting legend
Jackie Fortiér / Kff Health News
The hall of Community health clinic of St. John’s In southern Los Angeles, clusters with patients. But the community health officer Ana Ruth Varela fears that he will be about to become much quieter. Many patients, she said, are Fear of leaving their houses.
“The other day, I spoke with one of the patients. She said,” I don’t know. Should I go to my appointment? Should I cancel? I don’t know what to do. “And I said,” Come. “
Since the return of Donald Trump to the White House, the fear of mass deportations accomplished by American immigration and customs application attacked immigrant communities.
For years, a long policy prevented federal immigration agents from arresting in or near sensitive sites, including schools, places of worship, hospitals and health centers. It was one of the first policies that President Trump brought back in January, just a few hours after his inauguration.
The Secretary of the Department of Internal Security, Benjamine Huffman, revoked the directive on January 21. In a press release that accompanies him, a spokesperson for the DHS said that the action would help agents seeking immigrants who have committed crimes. “The Trump administration will not bind the hands of our good police forces and trust them to use common sense”, ” The press release indicated.
The speed of change took Darryn Harris by surprise.
“I thought we had more time,” said Harris, head of government affairs and community relations for St. John’s.
At the Community Health Clinic of St. John’s in southern Los Angeles, Darryn Harris teaches health agents on the constitutional right of patients to remain silent during immigration arrests.
Jackie Fortiér / Kff Health News
hide
tilting legend
Jackie Fortiér / Kff Health News
Harris runs to teach more than 1,000 workers from St. John’s how to read the mandates when they train for a new role – teacher to patients their constitutional rights.
California prosecutor Rob Bonta, Democrat, advisor Clinics to publish information on patient law to remain silent and provide patients with coordinates for legal groups.
BONTA also urges health care providers to avoid including patient immigration status in invoices and medical records. His office orders that if the staff should not physically hamper immigration agents, they have no obligation to help.
One of the few red cards remained during a recent visit to the health clinic of St. John’s. The card provides examples of declarations for people interacting with federal immigration agents.
Jackie Fortiér / Kff Health News
hide
tilting legend
Jackie Fortiér / Kff Health News
Even if the arrests of immigration took place in hospitals during Trump’s first term, global policy was still a deference for “sensitive locations”. Now, however, DHS declare that The previous rules have hampered the efforts to apply the law by creating sites where people without legal status could escape capture.
Matt LopasDirector of Plaidoyer of States and Technical Assistance for the National Center for Immigration Lawsaid that for immigration agents to access health information or go to private spaces such as examination rooms, they must present a mandate signed by a judge.
“It is incredibly important that each health care center has someone formed to be able to read these terms” and determine its validity, said Lopas.
Training staff in 31 health clinics
In the San Francisco Bay region, Zenaida Aguilera was used to read the mandates La Clínica de la Raza. It is compliance, privacy and risk agent for the network of clinics. If immigration agents arise, it is on appeal for the 31 community clinics of the organization.
Aguilera is also in charge of training hundreds of health staff. She has formed around 250 so far, but the majority of her work is still to come.
“We probably have a thousand additional staff,” she said.
The outside of the Community Health Clinic of St. John’s in South Los Angeles.
Jackie Fortiér / Kff Health News
hide
tilting legend
Jackie Fortiér / Kff Health News
She fears that the Trump administration will aim for California for the application of immigration due to her 2 million residents Without legal status, the highest of all states, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2022, 11 million people were in the United States without authorization.
Aguilera said that CLínica plans to publish constitutional rights of patients in clinical lobbies and provide resources such as the contact details of legal groups.
“We would just like to do the job to take care of our patients rather than training our staff on what to do if there is an ice official who tries to come to our clinics,” said Aguilera.
This article comes from the health report partnership of an NPR with Kff Health News.