Fearing Ice raids, some LA residents skip doctor’s visits: ‘Everybody’s life is on pause’

Health networks in other US cities fear the Ice operations seen in LA will be replicated in their communities

On a Wednesday morning earlier this month, Jane*, the coordinator for a mobile clinic at a temporary housing campus in Downey, just southeast of Los Angeles, was weaving through the line of patients, helping them fill out routine forms.

Everything was normal, she recalled, until she glimpsed, from the corner of her eye, the facility's security guard whisk away the cone that had been propping open the gate for the clinic, letting it swing shut. What had welcomed care now suddenly threatened capture.