DETROIT - The ACLU of Michigan and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) sent guidance this week to over 400 Michigan hospitals and healthcare providers regarding the rights of immigrant patients in healthcare settings. The guidance is intended to help healthcare providers protect access to care for all Michiganders and comply with their legal responsibilities to ensure that their facilities remain accessible and safe for all patients.
Healthcare institutions are uniquely sensitive places where people seek care that is often urgent, confidential, and essential to their health, safety, and wellbeing. For many immigrant families, whether they seek this care is often dependent on feeling safe and protected. The presence of law enforcement – or even the threat of its presence – at or near healthcare facilities can prevent patients from seeking needed care and raise questions for healthcare providers about patient rights, privacy, and institutional responsibilities.
This guidance seeks to provide answers for healthcare workers so they can reassure patients and reinforce clear, consistent procedures for responding to any law enforcement encounters, including from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The guidance includes a checklist that healthcare facilities can implement to protect patients before an encounter with law enforcement, during the enforcement event, and post-encounter.
The guidance also addresses recent federal policy changes affecting Medicaid data privacy and eligibility for major health and nutrition programs.
Top highlights from the guidance include:
- Healthcare facilities are not required to ask patients for immigration documentation or immigration status as a condition of care. Intake forms, registration processes, and clinical documentation should not include questions about immigration status, nationality, or citizenship unless such information is strictly required for a specific and lawful purpose.
- Frontline staff should be trained not to share patient information or documents in response to law enforcement requests. Healthcare facilities are not required to voluntarily assist law enforcement by searching records, confirming a patient’s presence, or volunteering other information beyond what is legally required. Protecting patient confidentiality is essential to maintaining trust and ensuring that patients seek care when they need it.
- Designate Public and Private Areas: Facilities should clearly identify which areas are open to the public and which are private or restricted. Treatment rooms, inpatient units, operating rooms, staff-only spaces, and records areas should be designated as non-public.
- Develop a Law Enforcement Response Plan and Document Encounters Appropriately: Facilities should maintain a written response protocol for law enforcement encounters, similar to other emergency or incident-response plans. Facilities should also document the date, time, location, officers involved, documentation presented, and actions taken during any law enforcement encounter. Accurate documentation supports accountability and institutional consistency.
Ramis Wadood, staff attorney at the ACLU of Michigan, said: “While the federal government is pushing anti-immigrant policies that terrorize and threaten communities, everyone, regardless of status, is legally entitled to medical care, and healthcare providers are legally obligated to provide it. Full stop. But the reality is that the presence of law enforcement can scare off people from getting the care they need. This guidance ensures that medical professionals and healthcare providers throughout Michigan have the information they need to protect patient access to care while fulfilling their legal responsibilities.”
Dr. Lauren Snyder, Committee to Protect, said: “As healthcare workers, we chose this field to help people. We have a duty to care for and protect the health and wellbeing of our patients, regardless of who they are or where they come from. We work in places of healing; immigration status is not and should not be a factor in who can receive care. It is our responsibility to treat the patient and ensure their safety, not act as an enforcer of immigration policy.”
Dr. Elliott Brannon, Family Medicine Physician: “Our patients — no matter the language they speak, no matter the color of their skin and no matter their immigration status — deserve to access healthcare without fear. The public health consequences of the current enforcement climate are clear and growing. We must act now to protect the health of our communities.”
Yousef Rabhi, Michigan Nurses Association: “Everyone deserves access to health care without the threat of surveillance or detention. When ICE comes to our hospitals and clinics, it creates fear for both patients and workers. Healthcare employers can play a critical role in protecting patient and worker rights by putting policies in place and providing training for staff.”
Elinor Jordan, Public Benefits Law Attorney, Michigan Poverty Law Program: “True health and safety comes from people having the resources they need to care for themselves and their loved ones. Unfortunately, our immigrant neighbors face barriers to health care not only from the possible presence of immigration enforcement, but also from other recent federal policy changes. Our local communities should continue to be guided by commitments to dignity, privacy, and equal access — values that should be at the heart of every public institution.”
Christine Sauvé, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center: “We all need health care to thrive but the immigrant families we serve experience challenges at every turn — from the threat of immigration enforcement showing up at their appointment to the sharing of personal data. This guidance helps health care professionals prepare for encounters with law enforcement, protect patient privacy, and navigate changes to health care access.”
Recording can be found here
Full letter can be found here
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American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is a nonpartisan nonprofit leading the fight to defend and preserve the rights our Constitution and laws guarantee all people through public education, advocacy, organizing, and litigation. We work in concert with the national ACLU, headquartered in New York City, as well as a network of ACLU affiliate offices across the country.
Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) is a statewide legal resource center for Michigan’s immigrant communities that works to build a thriving Michigan where immigrant communities experience equity and belonging. MIRC's work is rooted in three pillars: direct legal services, systemic advocacy, and community engagement and education. michiganimmigrant.org
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