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Press Release

Trump Administration’s Immigration Policies and Rhetoric Block Access to Health Care: PHR Research Brief

The Trump administration’s immigration policies are resulting in decreased access to health care among undocumented immigrants, individuals with other immigration statuses, and U.S. citizens, according to a new survey of 173 health care professionals across the United States, published today by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). Medical professionals report that fear is already contributing to […]

April 17, 2025
Asylum
Brief

Consequences of Fear: How the Trump Administration’s Immigration Policies and Rhetoric Block Access to Health Care

The current climate surrounding immigration enforcement and deportation has created widespread fear that, according to health care providers, is directly reducing health care utilization. This avoidance extends beyond those that are undocumented to visa-holding immigrants, mixed-status families, and even U.S. citizens. Telehealth has emerged as a vital tool for maintaining access to care while minimizing […]

April 17, 2025
Asylum
Press Release

New Evidence Details Credible Fear of Return for Individuals Detained and Expelled from the United States to Panama

Individuals expelled from the United States to Panama in February 2025 without being allowed to present asylum claims appear to have psychological and physical symptoms consistent with their reports of torture, mistreatment, and/or persecution in their countries of origin, according to new evidence from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) submitted today by the Global Strategic […]

March 31, 2025
Asylum, Torture
Multimedia

[VIDEO] John Oliver Spotlights PHR Investigation on Last Week Tonight: ‘The term excited delirium should just be gone forever.’

In an episode airing in March 2025, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” called for an end to the use of “excited delirium” as a cause of deaths in police custody. The segment cites PHR’s landmark 2022 report “Excited Delirium and Deaths in Police Custody,” which shows how the term is not a valid, independent […]

March 30, 2025
Excessive Force
Press Release

New Guide Helps U.S. Health Professionals Protect Patients from Immigration Enforcement

Following the Trump administration’s decision to end guidance protecting “sensitive locations” such as health care facilities from immigration enforcement actions, a new guide published today provides information to health care workers about how to navigate the new enforcement landscape while upholding ethical duties.  “Health Care and U.S. Immigration Enforcement: What Providers Should Know,” jointly published […]

March 13, 2025
Asylum, Attacks on Health Care
Tools and Guides

Health Care and U.S. Immigration Enforcement: What Providers Need to Know

Recent changes in regarding U.S. immigration enforcement have created new challenges for health care providers who are committed to ensuring care for all patients. This guide does not constitute legal advice but offers essential information to navigate the evolving enforcement landscape while upholding your duties as a health care professional. As a health care provider, […]

March 13, 2025
Asylum
Press Release

By Dropping EMTALA Lawsuit, Trump Administration Escalates Attacks on Pregnant Patients and Clinicians: PHR

In response to the U.S. Department of Justice’s plans to drop United States v. Idaho, its lawsuit which would uphold EMTALA, a federal law ensuring that patients can access to emergency services, including abortion where needed, to stabilize a patient regardless of a person’s ability to pay, the following quote is attributable to Payal Shah, […]

March 6, 2025
Reproductive Justice
Press Release

Trump Administration Use of Guantánamo to Detain Immigrants Threatens Abuse, Inhumane Conditions, Health Harms: PHR

In response to the Trump administration memorandum directing the U.S. government to prepare the Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba to detain migrants, the following statement is attributable to Michael Payne, deputy director of advocacy at Physicians for Human Rights (PHR):  “The dark history of Guantánamo is getting a new chapter as the Trump administration looks […]

January 29, 2025
Asylum, Torture
Press Release

“Deterrence Through Cruelty”: Trump Administration’s Assault on Asylum System Violates Human Rights and Harms Public Health

U.S. President Trump’s policy agenda will compound suffering, threaten public health, and violate long-standing human rights protections, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today. Several executive actions signed by the president yesterday represent inhumane, unlawful, and dangerous developments that attack people seeking asylum and other migrants, while other new policies erode global health and public […]

January 21, 2025
Asylum
Press Release

Public Health and Former CDC Experts Warn Against Renewed Misuse of Title 42 Public Health Authority

Following reports that the incoming Trump administration may once again invoke Title 42 public health authority to turn away asylum seekers and migrants at the border, leading epidemiologists, former CDC officials, and other public health experts reiterate their strong objection to any misuse of public health authority. While the first Trump administration directed the Centers […]

January 17, 2025
Asylum
Press Release

Severe Harms from Idaho’s Abortion Ban Likely to Expand with Trump Administration Poised to Reverse EMTALA Guidance: PHR

Idaho’s abortion ban has caused preventable medical crises and chaos in the state’s health system, according to an amicus curiae brief filed by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) for the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals hearing in Idaho v. United States, which opens in Pasadena, California on Tuesday.   While PHR’s amicus brief documents delayed […]

December 10, 2024
Reproductive Justice
Other

Amicus Curiae Brief: United States v. Idaho

Filed ahead of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals hearing in United States v. Idaho, PHR’s amicus brief documents delayed medical care and adverse health outcomes during “the injunction hiatus” – when Idaho’s abortion ban was allowed to pre-empt the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) protections. It also foreshadows the […]

October 24, 2024
Reproductive Justice
Press Release

Florida’s Abortion Ban Endangers Patients by Causing Delays and Denials of Medical Care: PHR Research Brief

Florida’s six-week abortion ban harms the health and safety of Florida patients while obstructing clinicians from providing basic reproductive and maternal medical care, according to a new research brief published today by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).   “Delayed and Denied: How Florida’s Abortion Ban Criminalizes Medical Care” is the first study to document the consequences […]

September 17, 2024
Reproductive Justice
Press Release

Supreme Court Decision to Send Idaho Abortion Case Back to Lower Courts is a Reprieve but Leaves Patients and Clinicians at Risk: PHR

The Supreme Court’s decision to avoid ruling on the conflict between Idaho’s extreme ban on access to abortion and a federal law guaranteeing access to abortions in cases of emergency provides a reprieve to pregnant patients in Idaho but leaves pregnant patients experiencing grave health risks and emergency room clinicians facing a medical ethics crisis […]

June 27, 2024
Reproductive Justice
Press Release

95 Percent of Deaths in ICE Detention Could Likely Have Been Prevented With Adequate Medical Care: Report

A new report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union, American Oversight, and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) exposes the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) flawed internal oversight mechanisms and failure to provide adequate medical and mental health care, resulting in preventable deaths of immigrants in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.  “Deadly Failures: […]

June 25, 2024
Asylum
Multimedia, Webinar

U.S. Abortion Bans and the Future of Medicine: A Conversation with Clinicians

In the two years since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, 14 states have banned abortion in almost all circumstances. As a result, growing numbers of clinicians are facing possible criminal and civil penalties for the provision of basic health care, creating real threats to public health and human rights.  

June 23, 2024
Reproductive Justice
Press Release

Biden Executive Order to Close U.S. Border Places Thousands at Risk

U.S. President Joe Biden’s new executive order placing arbitrary limits on asylum claims at the U.S. border subjects thousands of people escaping life-threatening violence to further risk and trauma, said Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today.  The restrictions, announced today, activate when the seven-day average for daily crossings reaches 2,500 people attempting to cross the […]

June 4, 2024
Asylum
Press Release

Texas Supreme Court Ruling in Zurawski v. State of Texas Endangers Patients and Clinicians  

The Texas Supreme Court’s ruling today rejected the challenge to the state’s abortion restrictions, exposing both pregnant patients and physicians to significant risk, said Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).   In Zurawski v. State of Texas, the Texas Supreme Court refused to clarify the medical exceptions to the state’s abortion ban. The case was brought on […]

May 31, 2024
Reproductive Justice
Press Release

475 Medical Professionals to Biden Administration: End Solitary Confinement in ICE Detention Now

475 doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals have signed a letter demanding that the U.S. government end the use of solitary confinement in immigration detention facilities due to severe health harms caused by the practice, said Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today.   The effort represents the largest mobilization to date of medical professionals calling […]

May 31, 2024
Asylum

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