There was a recent press conference given by Minnesota physicians from various medical specialties. Here is a brief summary of the atrocities they are seeing in their various health care settings as a result of the Trump administration’s war on brown people. Their patients are too scared to seek medical care, go to work, and the grocery store because ICE and DHS are waiting to detain them. As a result, their health, wellbeing, and even their lives are at risk.

ICE agents have been entering patient rooms without warrants. The have been present for sensitive exams and administration of bed baths.

One patient had a ruptured colon; another pediatric patient had a burst appendix. Both of these patients delayed care because they were too afraid to go to the hospital. When the colon or appendix ruptures, hundreds of bacteria and other pathogens from the stool enter the abdominal cavity causing infection. Sometimes the infection spreads to the entire body, the organs shut down, and death can come quickly. This is called sepsis.

Children are being harmed by ICE. There is trauma from family separation and watching the violence of ICE on their communities. Kids in handcuffs are being placed face down on the ground in front of schools.

One mother called a medical facility stating her baby was having trouble breathing, but she was too afraid to bring it in.

Many of us have heard the story of a family of 8 trying to get home from a basketball game. There were six children in the back of the vehicle. They were not part of a protest. Their car was stopped. Flash bangs and tear gas containers were thrown at them. The mother had to give CPR to her 6-month-old baby! Two of the children have asthma and fortunately were able to get to the ER with the mother and baby.

Patients are missing prenatal care appointments. Requests for home births are up. Home birth is not a safe option for everyone. Some women are birthing in the hospital alone without any family or support. One pregnant mom stopped answering her phone. A nurse went to her home to check on her and discovered she was in active labor alone.

A patient with kidney cancer did not show up to his medical appointment. He had been detained by ICE and sent to Texas without his medication. His health care providers did manage to get his medications sent to Texas, but they question whether he will actually get to take his lifesaving treatment.

A diabetic patient on insulin stopped coming to the clinic. The patient had been rationing both food and medication due to a fear of going to the pharmacy and grocery store. The patient did not know how to dose insulin for a diet with less food. Dosing insulin requires a medical provider’s help. Give too much insulin, and the blood sugar can drop too low, causing death to occur.

A hospitalized patient was discharged with a follow up wound care appointment. The patient missed the appointment due to fear of being taken by ICE. That missed appointment turned to a worsening infection and life-threatening sepsis. There’s that word again, sepsis. It causes serious harm!

A mother and son were separated while trying to pick up the son’s seizure medication from the pharmacy. The son was taken to the hospital for having an active seizure. The mother was sent to a detention facility in Texas. But, why don’t we just call it what it actually is, a concentration camp.

Others are sleeping in trucks to avoid home raids. Sleeping in a truck in single digit weather can cause death.

And perhaps the saddest one, a teenager almost collapsed from starvation after surviving on a single egg for three days after her entire family was taken by ICE.

The CATO Institute reports only 5% of people detained by ICE have violent convictions. They state 73% of people detained have no convictions at all.

All these patients I have just discussed were cared for by the health care providers and professionals in Minnesota. In a time, when there are so many lies coming from our government, when there is so much whitewashing by the media for fear of the Trump administration’s wrath, we have truth tellers, these brave doctors at this press conference. Doctors, taking care of ill patients, on the front lines in a war zone don’t lie about things like this. They help people in need. That’s the Hippocratic oath, “First do no harm.” They help all people, regardless of the color of their skin or their accent.

And what could children possibly do to deserve this trauma? How will their mental health ever be OK again? Morgan Griffith, along with a few other Republican colleagues could stop these human rights violations today! If any health care provider caused outcomes like the ones the above patients had, they would be sued for malpractice.

This is not common-sense immigration. This is not ethical. This is cruel. We’ve got bad actors in our government, but this is not who we Americans are or should be.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNXKBoNjCzM

2. https://www.cato.org/blog/5-ice-detainees-have-violent-convictions-73-no-convictions

3. https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/17/us/minneapolis-family-tear-gassed-ice

Dispatch RELEASE — February 6th, 2026 — Rosemary Rox