Amid ICE fears, Long Island immigrants avoid health care
"Patients have told us they’re very, very scared," said David Nemiroff, president and CEO of Harmony Healthcare Long Island, which runs the largest group of nonprofit health centers in Nassau County. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Some Long Island immigrants are not showing up for medical or mental health appointments or shifting to telehealth after the Trump administration rescinded a policy that had generally barred immigration enforcement at or near health facilities, health care and immigrant groups say.
In-person visits at some locations of Harmony Healthcare, the largest group of nonprofit health centers in Nassau County, with tens of thousands of patients, have fallen 10% to 15%. At Hispanic Counseling Center sites in Hempstead and Bay Shore, 25% to 30% more clients are requesting telehealth instead of in-person appointments. That puts their clients' physical and mental health at risk, leaders of those organizations said.
David Olson covers health care. He has worked at Newsday since 2015 and previously covered immigration, multicultural issues and religion at The Press-Enterprise in Southern California.
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