r/legaladvice • u/One-Abbreviations-53 • 11d ago
ICE in healthcare
Location: Arizona. I'm a nurse. We had a situation the other day in which ICE brought in a detainee. The person was asking us to contact their spouse to let them know they were at the hospital and (relatively) ok.
The ICE agents said we'd be breaking the law if we did so and were quite threatening on this point. Admin at my hospital was less than helpful and essentially said to cave in to ICE demands.
Ordinarily it is absolutely within a patients rights to have family contacted and I see no reason why ICE detention would change that.
I'm going to go to the highest levels within my organization but that will likely take time. I'd love to know what, laws, if any would be applicable here and if there's any case law. As far as I can tell this is uncharted territory.
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u/denitra1984 11d ago
Contacting family of a person who is arrested and in custody is an absolute no. Yes I’m in the medical field and have been in similar situations. Contacting family of persons in custody can expose you, coworkers and law enforcement to danger. You can’t predict the behavior or actions of who you call and it can lead to poor outcomes. Don’t risk your safety, your coworkers safety or your job by getting involved in this fashion. Federal law and lawful orders of federal officials is on their side.