I used to focus on my patients’ health. Now with ICE, I worry about their safety – CBC

Recent events have made me realize that politics bleed into health-care

Jan 28, 2026

I was walking down the hallway of a dental clinic with my patient — a five-year-old boy accompanied by his mother — so that we could get X-rays that would help create a dental treatment plan for him. For the little boy, I could see this was a fun adventure, but his mother’s face told a different story. As stoic as the face she put on, her words while we waited showed how nervous she was.

“Whenever we go out, I worry that if we get stopped, I may never see him again.”

My heart sank.

Unfortunately, it’s something I’m hearing more often in Minnesota. Like the mother and her son, many of the patients at the community clinic where I work in Minneapolis are racialized. Although not a tracked statistic, it is likely that many are also undocumented.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/first-person-health-care-worker-in-minneapolis-9.7063627