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Those Who Fled Torture, Persecution Treated “As Less Than Animals” by U.S. Officials Before Expulsion to Panama  

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 […]

April 23, 2025
Asylum
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
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

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

Trump Ending ICE “Sensitive Locations” Policy Forces Immigrants to Choose Between Health Care and Safety: PHR

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 […]

January 22, 2025
Asylum
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

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
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

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
Open Letter

Letter: 475 Medical Professionals Demand an End to Solitary Confinement in U.S. Immigration Detention 

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 […]

May 31, 2024
Asylum
Report

Evidence for Impact, Advocacy for Justice

“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 […]

April 16, 2024
Asylum, Attacks on Health Care, Death Investigations, Excessive Force, Mass Atrocities, Reproductive Justice, Sexual Violence, Torture
Press Release

U.S. Senators Introduce Bill to Limit ICE Solitary Confinement Following PHR Report

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 […]

April 16, 2024
Asylum
Press Release

DHS Should End Solitary Confinement, Says Nearly 200 Organizations

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 […]

March 1, 2024
Asylum
Press Release

ICE Used Solitary Confinement More Than 14,000 Times Since 2018: Report

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 […]

February 6, 2024
Asylum
Press Release

ICE usó confinamiento solitario más de 14.000 veces desde 2018: Informe

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 […]

February 6, 2024
Asylum
Report

“Endless Nightmare”: Torture and Inhuman Treatment in Solitary Confinement in U.S. Immigration Detention

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 […]

February 6, 2024
Asylum, Torture
Press Release

White House Must Not Sacrifice U.S. Asylum System in Funding Negotiations: PHR

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 […]

December 13, 2023
Asylum

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