Health clinics that service immigrants are making house calls on patients too afraid to leave home

Los Angeles Times ^ | May 24, 2025 3 AM PT | Melissa Gomez

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Across Los Angeles, the Inland Empire and the Coachella Valley, one community health center is extending its services to immigrant patients in their homes after realizing that people were skipping critical medical appointments because they’ve become too afraid to venture out.

St. John’s Community Health, one of the largest nonprofit community healthcare providers in Los Angeles County that caters to low-income and working-class residents, launched a home visitation program in March after learning that patients were missing routine and urgent care appointments because they feared being taken in by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

St. John’s, which offers services through a network of clinics and mobile units across the region, estimates that at least 25,000 of its patients are undocumented, and about a third of them suffer from chronic conditions, including diabetes and hypertension, which require routine checkups. But these patients were missing tests to monitor their blood sugar and blood pressure, as well as appointments to pick up prescription refills.

Earlier this year, the health center began surveying patients and found that hundreds were canceling appointments “solely due to fear of being apprehended by ICE.”

President Trump came into his second term promising the largest deportation effort in U.S. history, initially focusing his rhetoric on undocumented immigrants who had committed violent crimes. But shortly after he took office, his administration said they considered anyone in the country without authorization to be a criminal.

In the months since, the new administration has used a variety of tactics to sow fear in immigrant communities. The Department of Homeland Security has launched an ad campaign urging people in the country without authorization to leave or risk being rounded up and deported. Immigration agents are showing up at Home Depots and inside courtrooms, in search of people in...

[HYPOCRACY]

If they are illegal this is not ‘their home’. More like theor tax-payer subsidized abode.

[GaryCrow]

It sounds like ICE needs to follow them to figure out where the illegals are holed up.

[Jeff Chandler]

Mexico’s Healthcare System: The Basics

🇲🇽 1. INSABI (Instituto de Salud para el Bienestar)

Replaced “Seguro Popular” in 2020

Offers free healthcare services to uninsured Mexican citizens

Covers basic care, hospital visits, and some medications

Funded by the government — no cost at point of service for qualified Mexican nationals or legal residents

👷‍♂️ 2. IMSS (Mexican Social Security Institute)

For employees and workers

Paid through payroll taxes (employer + employee contributions)

Includes doctor visits, hospital care, medications, maternity, etc.

Not free — it’s a prepaid government-run system like U.S. Medicare or Social Security

🧑‍💼 3. ISSSTE

Same as IMSS, but for government employees

Covers workers in the public sector

So What’s Actually Free?

Service INSABI (Uninsured) IMSS/ISSSTE (Workers) Private Care
Doctor Visits ✅ Yes (basic only) ✅ Yes ❌ Out-of-pocket
Hospitalization ✅ Yes (limited) ✅ Yes ❌ Paid
Surgeries/Specialists ⚠️ Limited access ✅ Yes ❌ Paid
Medications ✅ Basic meds free ✅ Covered ❌ Paid

Can Foreigners Get Free Healthcare?

No.

Tourists pay out-of-pocket.

Legal residents can voluntarily enroll in IMSS (and pay premiums), but this is not free.

Private Care in Mexico

Widely used by middle/upper class and expats

Cheaper than in the U.S., but fully private and paid out-of-pocket unless insured

Bottom Line:
Mexico does offer a public option with free basic healthcare for its uninsured citizens, but it is not universal, not for tourists, and not equal to a full-service system like you’d find in Europe or Canada.

[Orosius]

They’re not immigrants. They’re illegal aliens. Grrrr....

[ConservativeMind]

“…and about a third of them suffer from chronic conditions, including diabetes and hypertension…”

We are getting their worst. If they did or had done actual physical labor, these issues would go down a lot.

[Danie_2023]

So, on top of getting free everything else... these illegals are getting something that most legal citizens are unable to get (myself included). That being ‘free’ medical home visits. And legal citizen taxpayers are, as usual, footing the bill for it all. How much more insulting will it get as the leftists push things past our limit of tolerance.

[Vaduz]

Air tags on Health clinics cars faster deportations problem solved.

[spintreebob]

Define “Free”. If Californika Medicaid is paying then it is not free. If Blue Cross/Anthem or UHC is paying then it is not free.

It would be interesting to find if a house call is the same price to the insurance company... or the taxpayer ... as a clinic visit.

The real world is that many of all backgrounds miss their scheculed visits because they have better shortterm things to do. Maybe this is just a way in increase revenue.

[philman_36]

Excellent. Now all ICE agents need to do is trail them to the suspect house and there you have it.
They must not have thought this through.

[Racketeer]

Will they make house calls on Americans who are afraid to venture out because of the harm or deaths caused by illegal immigrants?

[Lurker]

So follow them.

Make the arrests at their residences. Charge the “health care” workers for aiding and abetting.

L

[Navy Patriot]

Health clinics that service immigrants are making house calls on patients more important than US Citizen patients.

[DAC21]

Let me help out the not so wise Latina(x)

"ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS"

[Veto!]

Not sure whether my cat counts as a citizen. But she gets free health care delivered to the door.

$75 a month to vet, paid for by citizen me. Great vet, I don’t mind paying, but would be nice if the government covered it. Who do I sue?

[HenpeckedCon]

“ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS”
______________________________________________________________

Illegal aliens is the proper term.