Health care workers across Southern California are struggling to provide medical care to undocumented patients without clear guidance on how to handle encounters with immigration agents.
A new bill signed by Governor Gavin Newsom last week will prohibit immigration enforcement from entering restricted medical areas without a warrant. Now, workers want hospitals to improve guidelines and provide better training so they can protect patients and themselves.
Monique Hernandez says the lack of guidance from admin on how to engage federal immigration agents is causing stress for hospital workers. She points to an incident that occurred at Riverside Community Hospital back in June as an example.
Hernandez, a veteran nurse at the hospital and vice president of SEIU 121 RN, says agents were allowed inside to guard a detained person despite not having identification.
“Any officer that comes into the hospital needs to have a badge on them, needs to show proper identification on them,” said Hernandez. “The nurses didn't think to ask for proper identification at the time.”
But Hernandez says that burden shouldn’t fall on nurses already dealing with high stress patient care. She says administrators at Riverside Community Hospital could have stepped in to calm things down.
Instead, Hernandez says nurses took care of the detained patient, while also negotiating with agents because administration wasn’t around.
“This is not something that we should be dealing with,” said Hernandez. “You're dealing with the life that is in your bed. You're not dealing with the semantics, the politics behind it.”
HCA Healthcare, who runs Riverside Community Hospital, did not respond to requests for comment for this story. But told KVCR back in July in response to the incident that they are, "focused on providing the highest-quality care to every patient."
“As part of this commitment, we provide care to all patients…while protecting their confidentiality under the HIPAA privacy rule,” the statement reads. “When a patient arrives in custody of law enforcement, including ICE, we verify the officers’ credentials and provide necessary care…The discharge process is the same for all patients brought in by any law enforcement agency.”
Newsom signed Senate Bill 81 last week, which along with barring federal agents from entering private medical areas without a warrant, also strengthens existing state and federal medical privacy protections.
Senator Jesse Arreguin (D-Oakland), who authored the bill, says hospitals also need clear procedures for medical staff who encounter agents.
“We think that this bill will not only codify into state law best practices,” said Arreguin, “but will also provide clarity to medical providers about what to do, because in some cases, people don't know what to do.”
Arreguin says he wrote the bill because fear is keeping immigrants from getting health care. He says that’s having a ripple effect.
“I talked to community health clinics in my districts, and they're seeing a 30 to 40% decrease in people seeking medical care,” said Arreguin, “because patients are afraid that ICE is going to be there out in front of the clinic and they're going to get snatched and deported.”
The nurses’ union also says undocumented immigrants in Southern California are scared to get medical care. Connie is a nurse at a hospital in the Inland Empire. She did not provide her last name out of fear for her safety.
“We saw what we call low census in the hospital…where there were not enough people, enough patients coming in and seeking care that we had to close two units down,” she said.
Connie says she’s not surprised. She says a friend called her about an undocumented woman who was badly injured and afraid to get treatment.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you need to get this reviewed right away,” Connie said. “You could lose your limb. You could lose your finger.’ But telling her all of that…she was more fearful of immigration.”
Connie says she’s angry that ICE has entered medical spaces. But she says she wants to reassure undocumented immigrants.
“You don't have to be afraid. We are here to help you,” Connie said. “Whether you're an immigrant, whether you're a citizen, whether you're homeless, you have insurance or no insurance, that is what nurses do.”
Meanwhile, Monique Hernandez with SEIU 121 RN says nurses are now talking with Riverside Community Hospital admin about ICE. She says they’ll continue to push for better policies and protocol at the site.
“Real change happens with policy," said Hernandez. "Real change happens when you put ideas pen to paper. That's where real change happens.”
Hernandez says that new laws like the one authored by Senator Jesse Arreguin is a good place to start.
This story was produced as a project for the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2025 California Health Equity Fellowship.
