The Indicator from Planet Money
The Indicator from Planet Money

The chilling effect of ICE in hospitals

October 8, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The chilling effect of ICE in hospitals

In a March episode of the medical drama The Pitt, ICE agents walk into an emergency room with a woman they've detained, and the attending physician—played by Noah Wyle—explodes: "I'm already short staffed and I just lost five nurses and half my environmental services team because you walked in." The scene was ripped from real headlines. Under the second Trump administration, immigration agents can more easily access so-called sensitive areas including hospitals, and the heightened enforcement has sent a chill through communities across the country. Patients are skipping doctor's appointments. Hospital staff are calling out sick out of fear. And the costs—both physical and economic—are landing on the people who need care most.

How fear empties waiting rooms

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:06) **Opening: The ICE-in-the-ER Scenario** - Hosts Adrian Ma and Wayland Wong introduce the topic by referencing a dramatic scene from the HBO show *The Pitt*, where ICE agents enter a hospital emergency room.
  • 2 (01:32) **Ad Break** - Sponsorship messages for Ameriprise Financial and Easy Cater.
  • 3 (02:56) **Nurse Kelly Brennan on the "Catch of the Day" Operation in Maine** - The episode shifts to a real-world report from a National Nurses United protest in San Francisco, featuring a nurse from Maine.
  • 4 (04:33) **Patients Stay Home, Get Sicker** - Kelly explains that the fear of enforcement also caused patients to avoid the hospital.
  • 5 (05:19) **The Cost of Delayed Care** - The economic inefficiency of using the ER as a primary care solution is highlighted.
  • 6 (06:19) **Historical Evidence: Raids and Infant Health** - The podcast uses past research to show the tangible health impacts of immigration enforcement.
  • 7 (07:05) **The "Calculation" of Avoidance** - The narrative explores how fear affects families' decisions about nutrition and routine care.

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Show Notes

Federal immigration enforcement arrests reached record highs this past summer, and under the second Trump administration, immigration agents can now more easily access so-called sensitive areas, including hospitals. Today on the show: how both patients and healthcare workers are bearing the physical and economic costs of these deportation campaigns. 

Featuring Dr. William D. Lopez, author of Raiding the Heartland: an American Story of Deportation and Resistance.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
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