Immigration enforcement fear impacts Minnesota medical visits

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Healthcare providers across Minnesota said fear of immigration enforcement operations is keeping patients from showing up to medical appointments, including both routine visits and critical care.

Healthcare workers told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that hundreds of people are missing scheduled appointments because they’re afraid they could be detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Community leaders said that fear is now affecting daily life and people’s health.

RELATED: DHS social media videos sparks concerns from legal experts in Minnesota 

“The interesting thing is that a lot of those people who are afraid are also citizens or legal residents, but they’re afraid of being taken,” said Abdirizak Bihi, a community advocate. “There’s anxiety. There’s fear, especially with the elderly patients who need care most.”

Bihi said he’s hearing from families who are canceling or skipping appointments even when they’re dealing with serious medical conditions that require consistent monitoring.

“There are people who are struggling with multiple issues, such as diabetes, heart issues, or maybe kidney issues that need continuous care. I’m worried about those people,” Bihi said.

State healthcare leaders said it’s still too early to quantify the full impact in Minnesota over the last two months, but a national survey suggests the trend is not isolated.

A survey from Physicians for Human Rights and the Migrant Clinicians Network found that since January of last year,  when immigration enforcement increased, 84% of nearly 700 healthcare providers across 30 states reported moderate or significant decreases in patient care.

Dr. Roli Dwivedi, a family physician and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, said some Minnesota providers are seeing dramatic no-show rates.

“There are entities where they are seeing the rates of the no-show as high as 50 percent, so that’s huge,” Dwivedi said. “It’s the geriatric care, pediatric care, pregnant people, and elderly population. So it’s just everyone.”

Dwivedi said patients are delaying care for both acute issues and chronic illnesses, and that missed visits can quickly snowball into medical emergencies.

She said she’s hearing reports of postponed surgeries and canceled preventative care appointments, which could lead to more severe complications down the road.

Healthcare systems are adapting by making care easier to access, but providers say some of those changes take time and significant resources.

“How do you expand the definition of care and make it easier for people to seek care?” Dwivedi said. “Making sure that the Telehealth is available for people so then they can seek care, making sure that people have access to medications, making sure that they have expanded hours so they can call whenever they have time on their day to make that call.”

Dwivedi said the consequences of missed care extend far beyond individual appointments, warning that health disruptions ripple into nearly every part of a person’s life.

“Health is related to so many other things: employment, the economy, housing, disruption of the family, and the exacerbation of mental health,” Dwivedi said. “So, how do we look at the system as a whole as we start thinking about rebuilding? Health is one piece, but we would have to rebuild a lot of other things as well.”
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