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As immigration enforcement expands, grantee shines a light on ‘medical deportations’

Demanding the abolishment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the closure of the camps that are holding countless undocumented immigrants, pro-immigration activists rally on the steps of the New York Public Library at 42nd Street and 5th Avenue in New York City on February 16, 2020. After the rally protestors marched to the offices of Thompson Reuter in Times Square, demanding that the conglomerate cut its lucrative contracts with ICE. (Photo by Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

With support from the Fund, Liset Cruz dug into the practice of hospitals transferring undocumented patients back to their home countries for treatment, sometimes without patients’ consent. People who are uninsured, undocumented and have serious or chronic health conditions are most commonly subjected to these “medical deportations,” Cruz reported, and experts say the practice is likely to become more common as the federal government expands immigration enforcement. For The Nation and Type Investigations, Cruz spoke with families of people who fought “medical deportations.”