More than half (64%) of Spanish-speaking Latinos said they felt unsafe living in the United States, along with 52% of English-speaking Latinos. Being afraid of seeking emergency care had a bigger effect on Spanish-speaking Latino people, with 43% admitting they were worried, while only 4.2% of English-speaking Latino people felt scared, and 3.2% of English-speaking non-Latino people feared seeking medical care.
“Since January 2025, major changes in immigration and health care policies, increased immigration enforcement, and exclusionary rhetoric have exacerbated barriers to health care access and utilization among some populations born outside the US and their families,” wrote Esmeralda Melgoza, PhD, MPH, of Stanford University, in an accompanying commentary.
Delayed diagnoses, worse outcomes
For the second study, a separate group of researchers presented an abstract at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) conference this week in San Diego, which revealed that Latino families skipped more than 1,258 appointments at a large pediatric referral center during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago in 2025.
The team, from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, looked at almost 100,000 doctors’ appointments scheduled during an ICE activity surge in Chicago.
While people across the board canceled or skipped medical appointments at a higher rate, the numbers were higher among Latino patients (1.5 vs 4.2 percentage points). For Spanish-speaking Latino patients, the increase was 8.7 percentage points, compared with 1.6 percentage points for their non–Spanish-speaking counterparts. Those living in neighborhoods targeted by ICE were less likely to attend doctor’s appointments.
When patients avoid appointments, they can miss out on important preventive care such as vaccines and experience delayed diagnosis of chronic conditions such as heart disease and cancer. Late diagnoses of such illnesses can contribute to worsened outcomes.
“When families fear leaving home, children miss more than appointments—they miss opportunities for both life-saving and preventive care,” said co-author Teresa “Tess” Trinka, MD, a pediatric resident, in the news release. “Our findings highlight the downstream impact of immigration policy on pediatric healthcare utilization in Chicago.”
The personal encounters of doctors in Chicago show the devastating impact immigration crackdowns have had on families, the study shows.
“I took care of a girl on the oncology service whose parent was unable to come visit her due to fears of being taken by ICE,” said coauthor Frances Ho, MD, a pediatric resident. “Her story stuck with me, and this project is a way to understand the scope of ICE’s impact on patient care in the city of Chicago.”