A St. John’s Community Health mobile clinic set up in a Vernon parking lot on June 13, 2025. Clinic officials said armed agents approached the van in Downey on June 11. | Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

This article was originally published June 14, 2025 on calmatters.org.

California hospitals and clinics are on high alert as immigration raids continue and their patients — both legal residents and undocumented immigrants — are afraid to step out and increasingly canceling medical appointments.

A Los Angeles-area clinic system, St. John’s Community Health, told CalMatters about a close encounter with officials who appeared to be immigration agents. Staff said armed officers wearing tactical gear tried to enter a parking lot in Downey, about 10 miles southeast of Los Angeles, where doctors and nurses in a mobile health clinic were seeing patients, many of them walk-ins from the community.

Alfredo Contreras, the driver of the mobile clinic, said five unmarked SUVs and vans on Wednesday morning pulled up to a gate in the parking lot where they had set up, located at a drug and alcohol recovery center. Contreras and a security guard stood in front of their vehicles, blocking the entrance.

Contreras said he and the guard “held our ground, we did not move” and the officers didn’t get out of their vehicles.

“I told (the security guard) ‘Don’t worry, they can’t come in without a warrant,’ so I’m sure they (agents) could hear us because their windows were down,” Contreras said.

Both of them started walking back as the center’s gate slowly closed in front of them. The agents eventually left after a few minutes, Contreras said.

Alfredo Contreras, a mobile clinic driver for St. John’s Community Health. | Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

Mobile coordinator Peggy Hernandez. | Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

Peggy Hernandez, the mobile clinic coordinator who also was at the scene, said while Contreras and the security guard dealt with the agents, her staff calmly alerted patients who were waiting in line. None identified themselves as being at risk because of their legal status, but still, she said both patients and staff were shaken up.

“That’s the first time they (immigration officials) have ever come that close to the clinic or to us providing health care services,” said Jim Mangia, CEO of St. John’s Community Health. Staff at the clinics, he said, have been training for this type of situation.

Growing fear and cancelled health appointments

One of President Donald Trump’s first orders upon taking office in January was to rescind a Biden-era rule that protected “sensitive locations” — places of worship, hospitals, clinics and schools — from immigration operations.

In an email response to CalMatters, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, did not address whether U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents visited any LA-area medical clinics this week.

But asked why ICE would target such locations, McLaughlin said the administration is protecting “Americans who attend” these sensitive locations “by preventing criminal aliens and gang members from exploiting these locations and taking safe haven there because these criminals knew law enforcement couldn’t go inside under the previous administration.”

“ICE will be using the ‘common sense’ standard for any enforcement actions at these locations, relying on the discretion of the law enforcement officer.” TRICIA MCLAUGHLIN, DEPT. OF HOMELAND SECURITY

“Officers would need secondary supervisor approval before any action can be taken in locations such as a church or a school. We expect these to be extremely rare,” McLaughlin said in the email.

Trump’s directive “gives our law enforcement the ability to do their jobs…ICE will be using the ‘common sense’ standard for any enforcement actions at these locations, relying on the discretion of the law enforcement officer,” she said.

Government data and news reports show that ICE is increasingly detaining people without criminal convictions. The same day that immigration agents tried to enter the Downey parking lot where St. John’s mobile health van was stationed, some also showed up outside two nearby churches where they apprehended people, including one elderly man, according to local news reports.

Health advocates and providers say that rather than protecting people, ICE is scaring people from seeking basic medical care.

That fear is expected to grow, especially after, as the Associated Press first reported Friday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shared Medi-Cal data, including people’s immigration status, with the Department of Homeland Security. California officials, including the state’s Department of Health Care Services which oversees Medi-Cal, have long reassured undocumented immigrants that their personal information would not be shared with federal agencies for immigration enforcement.

At St. John’s, which has 28 sites across Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire, Mangia estimates that roughly a third of medical appointments and half of dental appointments were cancelled this week.

People have been skipping care out of fear for months now, but recent raids have increased the no-shows and cancellations. When possible, his clinics are turning people to telehealth and a recently-launched home visitation program, he said.

The Hospital Association of Southern California said on Thursday that it was not aware of any immigration enforcement activity inside or directly outside any Southern California hospital campus, but that the chilling effect was noticeable in some emergency waiting rooms.

“Some hospitals have reported a decline in emergency department volume, which raises our concern that individuals may be delaying necessary care out of fear,” Adam Blackstone, a spokesperson for the association, said in a written response.

“Fear of going outside or being picked up by ICE…can create worse outcomes, such as ending up on my operating room table with an amputation or a ruptured appendix.” SANDY REDING, CALIFORNIA NURSES ASSOCIATION

Sandy Reding, an operating room nurse at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital and president of the California Nurses Association, said anecdotes of similar patterns were reported in Bakersfield following January raids there.

The consequences of putting off care are never good, especially for people with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, she said.

“Not having the optimal care because of fear of going outside or being picked up by ICE creates delays in care, which can create worse outcomes, such as ending up on my operating room table with an amputation or a ruptured appendix,” Reding said.

“My concern right now is that we take care of everybody in a timely manner, and that they feel that the hospital is a safe place to go to get care,” she said.

Many patients seeking virtual care

For non-emergency care, patients have more options. The Los Angeles County Department of Health Serviceshas published resources for remote care. Included are phone numbers and portals where county clinic patients can call a nurse advice line and request medication drop-offs. The department encourages people who would rather stay home to call their clinic and change their appointments to virtual or phone visits.

Officials with the county health department said immigration agents have not entered any of their county health facilities. “However, the mere threat of immigration enforcement near any medical facility undermines public trust and jeopardizes community health,” they wrote in an unsigned email.

People without a preferred clinic may also seek services from organizations such as Zócalo Health, which provides virtual-first care, including mental health visits. The group was created to boost culturally competent care in Latino communities, said CEO Erik Cardenas. Services are available for people throughout California, including those covered by certain Medi-Cal plans. People can call the group’s main line to check insurance eligibility and book appointments online.

“Having a virtual network of physicians and therapists that look like you, talk like you, think like you, is a really good tool to have right now because it augments access,” Cardenas said.

Since the pandemic, most clinics and doctors’ offices across the state now offer virtual care.

‘A devastating contradiction’

The immigration raids are coinciding with major proposed rollbacks in Medi-Cal for undocumented people.

As the state tries to offset a projected $12 billion deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom last month put out a budget proposal that freezes enrollment and reduces services for this population. State health officials have said the state is spending more on medical coverage and prescription drugs for undocumented enrollees than they anticipated.

The Legislature, in its own version of the budget, on Friday accepted most of Newsom’s freezes and cuts for immigrants with some modifications. For example, lawmakers want to charge undocumented immigrants $30 a month for their Medi-Cal insurance instead of the $100 that Newsom proposed. Legislators also want a six-month grace period for people to re-enroll if they fall off coverage for missing payments.

Lawmakers and Newsom face a June 27 deadline for agreeing on a final budget.

Republican lawmakers say the governor and Democratic lawmakers are responsible for a Medi-Cal expansion that has become unsustainable. “We committed spending to something we can’t afford,” Sen. Roger Niello, a Republican from Roseville and vice chair of the Senate budget committee, has told CalMatters.

The exam room where patients see health providers inside a mobile clinic operated by St. John’s Community Health. | Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

Meanwhile, health and immigration advocates are pushing the state to keep immigrants covered, especially in this time of fear.

Mar Velez, director of policy at the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, said it doesn’t make sense for Democrats to defend immigrants in the face of the federal immigration raids and at the same time go after their health coverage.

“They’ve been very clear that we need to protect immigrant communities, and so why isn’t the state budget reflecting that?” she said.

Mangia at St. John’s said his clinics’ staff have been getting questions from patients almost daily about the future of their Medi-Cal coverage.

“Our patients are very worried about it,” he said. “And I think it’s a devastating contradiction, on the one hand to have the governor and elected officials say we support immigrants, but when it comes to making sure that they have health care, they’re willing to kind of cut those services away.”

Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

In summary Fear of immigration raids is driving Southern California patients to cancel health care. A third of medical appointments and half of dental appointments at St. John’s 28 clinics were cancelled this week.

California hospitals and clinics are on high alert as immigration raids continue and their patients — both legal residents and undocumented immigrants — are afraid to step out and increasingly canceling medical appointments.

A Los Angeles-area clinic system, St. John’s Community Health, told CalMatters about a close encounter with officials who appeared to be immigration agents. Staff said armed officers wearing tactical gear tried to enter a parking lot in Downey, about 10 miles southeast of Los Angeles, where doctors and nurses in a mobile health clinic were seeing patients, many of them walk-ins from the community.

Alfredo Contreras, the driver of the mobile clinic, said five unmarked SUVs and vans on Wednesday morning pulled up to a gate in the parking lot where they had set up, located at a drug and alcohol recovery center. Contreras and a security guard stood in front of their vehicles, blocking the entrance.

Contreras said he and the guard “held our ground, we did not move” and the officers didn’t get out of their vehicles.

“I told (the security guard) ‘Don’t worry, they can’t come in without a warrant,’ so I’m sure they (agents) could hear us because their windows were down,” Contreras said.

Both of them started walking back as the center’s gate slowly closed in front of them. The agents eventually left after a few minutes, Contreras said.

Alfredo Contreras, a mobile clinic driver for St. John’s Community Health, and mobile coordinator Peggy Hernandez. Photos by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

Peggy Hernandez, the mobile clinic coordinator who also was at the scene, said while Contreras and the security guard dealt with the agents, her staff calmly alerted patients who were waiting in line. None identified themselves as being at risk because of their legal status, but still, she said both patients and staff were shaken up.

“That’s the first time they (immigration officials) have ever come that close to the clinic or to us providing health care services,” said Jim Mangia, CEO of St. John’s Community Health. Staff at the clinics, he said, have been training for this type of situation.

Growing fear and cancelled health appointments

One of President Donald Trump’s first orders upon taking office in January was to rescind a Biden-era rule that protected “sensitive locations” — places of worship, hospitals, clinics and schools — from immigration operations.

In an email response to CalMatters, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, did not address whether U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents visited any LA-area medical clinics this week.

But asked why ICE would target such locations, McLaughlin said the administration is protecting “Americans who attend” these sensitive locations “by preventing criminal aliens and gang members from exploiting these locations and taking safe haven there because these criminals knew law enforcement couldn’t go inside under the previous administration.”

“ICE will be using the ‘common sense’ standard for any enforcement actions at these locations, relying on the discretion of the law enforcement officer.” TRICIA MCLAUGHLIN, DEPT. OF HOMELAND SECURITY

“Officers would need secondary supervisor approval before any action can be taken in locations such as a church or a school. We expect these to be extremely rare,” McLaughlin said in the email.

Trump’s directive “gives our law enforcement the ability to do their jobs…ICE will be using the ‘common sense’ standard for any enforcement actions at these locations, relying on the discretion of the law enforcement officer,” she said.

Government data and news reports show that ICE is increasingly detaining people without criminal convictions. The same day that immigration agents tried to enter the Downey parking lot where St. John’s mobile health van was stationed, some also showed up outside two nearby churches where they apprehended people, including one elderly man, according to local news reports.

Health advocates and providers say that rather than protecting people, ICE is scaring people from seeking basic medical care.

That fear is expected to grow, especially after, as the Associated Press first reported Friday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shared Medi-Cal data, including people’s immigration status, with the Department of Homeland Security. California officials, including the state’s Department of Health Care Services which oversees Medi-Cal, have long reassured undocumented immigrants that their personal information would not be shared with federal agencies for immigration enforcement.

At St. John’s, which has 28 sites across Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire, Mangia estimates that roughly a third of medical appointments and half of dental appointments were cancelled this week.

People have been skipping care out of fear for months now, but recent raids have increased the no-shows and cancellations. When possible, his clinics are turning people to telehealth and a recently-launched home visitation program, he said.

The Hospital Association of Southern California said on Thursday that it was not aware of any immigration enforcement activity inside or directly outside any Southern California hospital campus, but that the chilling effect was noticeable in some emergency waiting rooms.

“Some hospitals have reported a decline in emergency department volume, which raises our concern that individuals may be delaying necessary care out of fear,” Adam Blackstone, a spokesperson for the association, said in a written response.

“Fear of going outside or being picked up by ICE…can create worse outcomes, such as ending up on my operating room table with an amputation or a ruptured appendix.” SANDY REDING, CALIFORNIA NURSES ASSOCIATION

Sandy Reding, an operating room nurse at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital and president of the California Nurses Association, said anecdotes of similar patterns were reported in Bakersfield following January raids there.

The consequences of putting off care are never good, especially for people with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, she said.

“Not having the optimal care because of fear of going outside or being picked up by ICE creates delays in care, which can create worse outcomes, such as ending up on my operating room table with an amputation or a ruptured appendix,” Reding said.

“My concern right now is that we take care of everybody in a timely manner, and that they feel that the hospital is a safe place to go to get care,” she said.

Many patients seeking virtual care

For non-emergency care, patients have more options. The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services has published resources for remote care. Included are phone numbers and portals where county clinic patients can call a nurse advice line and request medication drop-offs. The department encourages people who would rather stay home to call their clinic and change their appointments to virtual or phone visits.

Officials with the county health department said immigration agents have not entered any of their county health facilities. “However, the mere threat of immigration enforcement near any medical facility undermines public trust and jeopardizes community health,” they wrote in an unsigned email.

People without a preferred clinic may also seek services from organizations such as Zócalo Health, which provides virtual-first care, including mental health visits. The group was created to boost culturally competent care in Latino communities, said CEO Erik Cardenas. Services are available for people throughout California, including those covered by certain Medi-Cal plans. People can call the group’s main line to check insurance eligibility and book appointments online.

“Having a virtual network of physicians and therapists that look like you, talk like you, think like you, is a really good tool to have right now because it augments access,” Cardenas said.

Since the pandemic, most clinics and doctors’ offices across the state now offer virtual care.

‘A devastating contradiction’

The immigration raids are coinciding with major proposed rollbacks in Medi-Cal for undocumented people.

As the state tries to offset a projected $12 billion deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom last month put out a budget proposal that freezes enrollment and reduces services for this population. State health officials have said the state is spending more on medical coverage and prescription drugs for undocumented enrollees than they anticipated.

The Legislature, in its own version of the budget, on Friday accepted most of Newsom’s freezes and cuts for immigrants with some modifications. For example, lawmakers want to charge undocumented immigrants $30 a month for their Medi-Cal insurance instead of the $100 that Newsom proposed. Legislators also want a six-month grace period for people to re-enroll if they fall off coverage for missing payments.

Lawmakers and Newsom face a June 27 deadline for agreeing on a final budget.

Republican lawmakers say the governor and Democratic lawmakers are responsible for a Medi-Cal expansion that has become unsustainable. “We committed spending to something we can’t afford,” Sen. Roger Niello, a Republican from Roseville and vice chair of the Senate budget committee, has told CalMatters.

The exam room where patients see health providers inside a mobile clinic operated by St. John’s Community Health. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

Meanwhile, health and immigration advocates are pushing the state to keep immigrants covered, especially in this time of fear.

Mar Velez, director of policy at the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, said it doesn’t make sense for Democrats to defend immigrants in the face of the federal immigration raids and at the same time go after their health coverage.

“They’ve been very clear that we need to protect immigrant communities, and so why isn’t the state budget reflecting that?” she said.

Mangia at St. John’s said his clinics’ staff have been getting questions from patients almost daily about the future of their Medi-Cal coverage.

“Our patients are very worried about it,” he said. “And I think it’s a devastating contradiction, on the one hand to have the governor and elected officials say we support immigrants, but when it comes to making sure that they have health care, they’re willing to kind of cut those services away.”

Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, June 20, 2025…

National Guard troops sent to Los Angeles by President Donald Trump can stay there, for now. That’s a result of a ruling late Thursday from a federal appeals court.

Health care providers in California say they’re worried immigration raids are keeping people from getting the medical care they need.

Across the country, young scientists are writing to their hometown newspapers—hoping their stories will rally public support and push back against deep federal research funding cuts.

Donald Trump can continue to control the National Guard in California for the time being after a panel of judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined he followed the law in deploying troops to Los Angeles.

The order, handed down Thursday evening, is the latest in a fast-moving legal saga playing out over Trump’s decision to call up the National Guard and U.S. Marines to the Los Angeles area in response to protests after federal immigration law enforcement agents began worksite raids and arrests two weeks ago. California’s Democratic leadership, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, has called the deployment unnecessary and illegal.

The appeals court order in a lawsuit filed by Newsom contesting the deployment isn’t surprising; the panel signaled an openness to the Trump administration’s legal arguments during a legal hearing on Tuesday.

What happens next could take one of several turns. On Friday a lower court judge, Charles Breyer, will hold a hearing on whether to return the troops to Newsom through a preliminary injunction. Breyer last week issued an order that would have temporarily halted Trump’s deployment, but the 9th Circuit blocked it. Now, the battle over whether federal troops can remain in Los Angeles is operating on three parallel tracks — the case the 9th Circuit decided Thursday, which can be appealed; Friday’s hearing on the preliminary injunction; and the full merits of the case that would be argued through a prolonged trial.

California hospitals and clinics are on high alert as immigration raids continue and their patients — both legal residents and undocumented immigrants — are afraid to step out and increasingly canceling medical appointments.

Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for DHS, said Noem was transported to the hospital by ambulance “out of an abundance of caution” and “is alert and recovering.”

As governor of South Dakota, Noem was a staunch ally of President Donald Trump before joining his administration. She now leads a sprawling agency of more than 260,000 people that is charged with border enforcement, disaster response and other law enforcement responsibilities.

Noem has helmed Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown in cities, including the ongoing raids in Los Angeles by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Last week, the secretary vowed that the ICE raids and deportation arrests — a key component of Trump’s immigration agenda — would continue across Los Angeles. Trump has also directed Noem to deploy ICE agents across the nation and “expand efforts to detain and deport” undocumented immigrants in Democratic-run cities, such as Chicago and New York.

LOS ANGELES — Federal immigration authorities raided three locations across the city on Friday, officials said, in “chaotic” action that drew immediate rebuke from local lawmakers and a distanced response from L.A. law enforcement.

“Today, ICE officers and agents alongside partner law enforcement agencies, executed four ​federal search warrants at three location in central Los Angeles,” a statement from Homeland Security Investigations said.

As federal agents — often wearing camouflage and bulletproof vests with their faces covered — burst into buildings, protesters and supporters soon showed up, creating tense scenes throughout the city.

Witnesses reported tear gas being employed at least one of the locations to clear a path for federal agents to take in their prisoners.

“Approximately 44 people” were administratively arrested ​​and one person was arrested on an obstruction charge, the HSI statement said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom strongly denounced the raids.

“Continued chaotic federal sweeps, across California, to meet an arbitrary arrest quota are as reckless as they are cruel,” Newsom said in a statement. “Donald Trump’s chaos is eroding trust, tearing families apart, and undermining the workers and industries that power America’s economy.”

Among those arrested was SEIU California President David Huerta, who represents an estimated 750,000 service workers across the state. He was booked by federal law enforcement at the site of one of the raids, according to Bill Essayli, the L.A.-based U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.

“David Huerta deliberately obstructed their access by blocking their vehicle,” he said on X Friday night. “He was arrested for interfering with federal officers and will face arraignment in federal court on Monday.”

The labor union said Huerta was released from a hospital Friday afternoon after being transported for unknown reasons. He remained in custody early Friday evening, it said in a statement. The union said he was “exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity” when he was taken into custody.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass visited Huerta in the hospital and spoke to NBC Los Angeles afterward.

“He is doing OK physically, but I know what really impacted him the most was the emotional trauma of watching parents and kids being separated,” she said.

Among the sites targeted by federal agents was clothing manufacturer, importer and wholesaler Ambiance Apparel in the city’s Fashion District, Essayli told NBC Los Angeles.

The agents served a search warrant and were looking for “fictitious employee documents,” Essayli said.

A representative for Ambiance Apparel could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.

People look inside importer and wholesaler Ambiance Apparel in the Los Angeles Fashion District on Friday. NBC LA

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., called the ICE action “a continuation of a disturbing pattern of extreme and cruel immigration enforcement.”

“These indiscriminate raids prove once again that the Trump administration cares about nothing but instilling harm and fear in our communities to drive immigrants into the shadows,” Padilla, a Los Angeles native and the son of Mexican immigrants, said in a statement.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell and Sheriff Robert Luna were both quick to state that their personnel had no role in the federal action.

“Today the LAPD became aware that ICE was conducting operations in the City of Los Angeles,” McDonnell said in a statement. “I’m aware that these actions cause anxiety for many Angelenos, so I want to make it clear: the LAPD is not involved in civil immigration enforcement.”

Video posted to social media by the People’s City Council shows LAPD officers outside the Ambiance Apparel location. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Luna acknowledged that raids “have caused fear” but asked residents to “remain calm and peaceful as we continue to place your safety and well-being at the forefront of our efforts.”

A protester attempts to evade a Department of Homeland Security officer after federal immigration authorities conducted an operation on Friday in Los Angeles. Jae C. Hong / AP

On Friday afternoon, multiple immigrant rights groups rallied in downtown Los Angeles to express anger over the raids and Huerta’s arrest.

Outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal lockup, federal agents stood guard amid shouting protesters and ultimately fired less-lethal rounds to clear the area in front of the structure, according to NBC Los Angeles video and imagery posted to social media verified by NBC News.

Yvonne Wheeler, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, spoke onstage nearby earlier, decrying the raids as a swipe at working class L.A.

“Today was a dark day in Los Angeles,” she said. “This administration is cruel and inhumane.”

Protesters held up signs that said “Stop Deportations,” and some chanted, “Free David, free them all,” referring to Huerta and the arrested immigrants. A spokesperson for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles estimated 1,000 people had gathered following its call for supporters to join the group downtown.

Crowd members dodge pepper balls fired by officers during a protest after U.S. immigration authorities conducted an operation Friday in Los Angeles. Jae C. Hong / AP

LAPD officer Drake Madison said it was not yet known how many arrests, if any, had taken place as protesters marched to the complex that includes the detention center and the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building.

Los Angles City Council member Ysabel Jurado also took the temporary stage, decrying the raids’ timing during Pride Month and graduation season.

“It was a calculated attempt to take joy from our community,” she said. “I’m heartbroken. But I’m ready to fight.”

She was among the 11 of the city’s 15 council members who condemned the federal action.

“This indiscriminate targeting of children and families not only harms the individuals who are directly impacted, but destroys our communities’ sense of trust and safety in their own homes,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement.

“We condemn this in no uncertain terms: Los Angeles was built by immigrants and it thrives because of immigrants. We will not abide by fear tactics to support extreme political agendas that aim to stoke fear and spread discord in our city.”

Andrew Blankstein and Erick Mendoza reported from Los Angeles and David K. Li from New York City.