The ongoing ICE enforcement actions and resulting protests in Minnesota may be contributing to serious public health problems.
"We're seeing residents not wanting to leave their homes, not go to work, not go to their doctor appointments, not going to their regularly scheduled checkups, postponing surgeries, postponing care," Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley told "The Guardian." "They are afraid of being pulled out of their car and taken to the Whipple building and sent on a flight to Texas -- even our legal permanent residents, United States citizens. Everybody is afraid."
Even documented residents may be avoiding care, said Munira Maalimisaq, founder and CEO of Inspire Change Clinic in Minneapolis. "It is a health issue," she said. "When people are too afraid to seek care, diseases worsen and emergencies increase and people die unnecessarily."
Providers also are expressing concern about the short- and long-term implications of delaying or skipping needed care.
"If people aren't getting their medications and they're not getting their treatments, they will die," said Mary Turner, president of National Nurses United. "I dread the day that the stories start to come out about finding people dead in their homes because they're afraid to seek medical care. We're going to start to find dead bodies."
Several health care organizations are proactively responding to the challenge. Maalimisaq, for example, created a rapid-response unit at her clinic. After Renee Good was fatally shot last month, county and city officials created Operation Reconnect, an incident command center available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for public health. They also are teaming up with neighborhood groups to help provide transportation to medical appointments.
"It's a public health crisis because people don't have access to what they typically would, whether it is baby formula, whether it is getting for their mental health visits or picking up prescriptions that they need," Conley said.
As the politics of the presence of immigration enforcement continue to be debated, public health groups are trying to put the needs of people first. "We as health care providers are using our voice," Maalimisaq said. "Health care needs to remain safe and accessible for everyone. We will do anything it takes to do that."
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