Know Your Rights: Immigrant Safety in Hospitals and Clinics

Mar 07, 2025
A hospital waiting room.

Health care facilities, such as hospitals and emergency rooms, provide essential services to all community members. Health care providers should be focused on fostering patient trust and comfort, not responding to immigration enforcement. People should not be afraid they could be detained by immigration authorities when they are seeking health care. 

The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) prohibits healthcare providers from disclosing protected health information—including immigration status—with some exceptions. Additionally, the California Constitution includes a right to privacy and state laws also protect individuals' medical information. 

You can find additional information here about your rights if ICE confronts you at home, on the street, or at work.

FAQ About Health Centers and Immigration Enforcement

Are health centers required to enforce immigration laws?

No. Health centers and health care staff are not required and cannot be forced to enforce immigration laws.

Can ICE conduct a raid at a health center?

In general, health centers must allow ICE agents in any areas where they would allow general members of the public. ICE agents may be excluded from private areas that are clearly posted and enforced for patients and family.

What are considered public spaces in health centers and how does this impact immigration enforcement?

  • Public areas include lobbies, waiting areas, and any other places open to the public.
  • Non-public areas of a health center include treatment rooms, inpatient units, offices, etc., essentially anything not open to the public.
  • Health centers should identify and distinguish (ideally with legal advice) private spaces from public ones, if any. This can be done by placing signs identifying private areas, or by placing security guards tasked with signing in visitors at main entrances.

 

Can an immigration agent access a non-public area in a health center?

  • No, unless they have a valid judicial warrant. The health center's legal counsel should review and validate the warrant by before decisions about access are made.
  • A judicial warrant must be signed by a judge, name the location where the agent is permitted to enter, and name the patient.
  • A deportation order or arrest order is not the same as a judicial warrant and does not permit an agent to enter.

What is the "plain view" doctrine and how does it apply to health care facilities?

  • Officers may also look at anything that is in “plain view” in a public area. An object is in “plain view” if it is obvious to the senses. For example, an immigration agent may visually inspect anything—including papers and files—that are clearly visible from the visitors’ side of the reception desk. 
  • They may not move an object in plain view to expose other portions of it or anything under it unless they have a valid judicial warrant. 
  • The plain view doctrine extends to sounds within “plain hearing” as well. 

Does a health care facility need to collect information about patients' immigration status?

  • No, there is no legal obligation for health care centers to collect immigration status information. 
  • As an ethical best practice, heath care providers should avoid asking for patients’ immigration status or immigration-related information. If they must collect such information, they should not include it in patients' medical and billing records.

Are health care workers required to protect patients' privacy?

Health care providers are legally obligated to protect patient privacy, including immigration status, and should not disclose any information without a judicial warrant, except in the case of an emergency that poses immediate harm.

What is considered protected health information?

  • Patient’s name, date of birth, other demographic information.
  • Patient’s immigration status (if the hospital has this information).
  • When a patient is supposed to be seen or discharged.

Can patients admitted to the hospital decline to be listed in the hospital's directory?

Yes, while a hospital may disclose basic information, such as patient location and condition, from its directory of patients if asked about a patient by name, patients do have the right to decline to be listed.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

 Protecting Immigrant Community Members: Accessing Health Care