President Trump’s policy agenda compounds suffering, threatens public health, and violates fundamental human rights.  

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a groundbreaking United Nations process initiated in 2006 that evaluates the human rights records of all 193 Member States on an equal footing. This year, the human rights record of the United States will be the subject of scrutiny. To help inform the UPR of the United States in […]

The woman seated facing me smiled briefly as she recalled her work in Afghanistan with a nongovernmental organization that supported women’s voting rights. This was before the Taliban takeover in 2021 – before her organization’s offices were ransacked and directors imprisoned, before her town’s mayor warned that she was on a list of women wanted […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

In an episode airing in March 2025, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” shined a light on U.S. immigration detention and how it jeopardizes the health, rights, and lives of people who are detained. The harrowing segment highlights two studies published in 2024 by PHR and partners: PHR continues to call for safe, humane, and […]

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 […]

In response to the Trump administration’s move to rescind the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “sensitive locations” policy, which prevents immigration enforcement actions in or around locations like hospitals, schools, or places of worship, the following quote is attributable to Katherine Peeler, MD, medical advisor at Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and assistant professor of […]

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 […]

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 […]

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: […]

The Department of Homeland Security’s internal oversight mechanisms have failed to conduct rigorous investigations, impose meaningful consequences, or improve conditions that cause immigrants to die in ICE detention.

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 […]

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 […]

Dear President Biden, Secretary Mayorkas, and Acting Director Lechleitner:  The undersigned 475 healthcare professionals – including, but not limited to, physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers – write today in unison. In alignment with our professional and ethical obligations as healthcare professionals, we urge the U.S. government to immediately cease the use of solitary confinement in […]

“If any of you worry about the issues that are going on in the world as you listen to the news every day and you feel somewhat powerless because the problems, the fractures, are too large and too many, I think you and I can take comfort that PHR is playing its part everywhere in […]

The U.S. Congress should immediately abolish the use of solitary confinement in U.S. immigration detention facilities, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) urged during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.  “Solitary confinement unquestionably leads to severely detrimental health effects. What’s more, sensible alternatives exist. I urge you to pass legislation eliminating solitary confinement completely, and […]

The U.S. government should immediately and publicly commit to ending the use of solitary confinement in U.S. immigration detention, demanded a coalition of 194 medical, academic, faith, human rights, civil rights, and immigration groups in a letter to U.S. President Biden, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).   The coalition mobilized […]

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) used solitary confinement at least 14,264 times from 2018 to 2023, according to a new report issued by experts at Physicians for Human Rights, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Medical School.  The report, “Endless Nightmare”: Torture and Inhuman Treatment in Solitary Confinement in U.S. Immigration Detention, documents that people […]

El Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de Estados Unidos (ICE) usó el confinamiento solitario por lo menos 14.264 veces desde 2018 a 2023, según un nuevo informe expedido por expertos Médicos por Derechos Humanos (PHR), la Facultad de Derecho de Harvard (HLS), y la Facultad de Medicina de Harvard (HMS). El informe, “Pesadilla […]

Executive Summary The United States maintains the world’s largest immigration detention system, detaining tens of thousands of people in a network of facilities, including those managed by private prison corporations, county jails, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). At the time of […]

In response to reports that the White House and congressional leaders are considering overhauls to the U.S. asylum system as a compromise to secure funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, the following quote is attributable to Michele Heisler, MD, MPH, medical director at PHR and professor of internal medicine and public health at the University […]