Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Justice Department Begins Civil Rights Inquiry Into Nurse's Killing In Minn.
Bloomberg: Justice Department Probes Civil Rights In Shooting Death Of Alex Pretti
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department is conducting a probe of the Jan. 24 shooting of Alex Pretti during a protest against the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. The Department of Homeland Security also is investigating the shooting by its agents. (Wasserman, 1/30)
AP: ICE Presence At Hospitals Triggers Friction With Workers
Intensive care nurses immediately doubted the word of federal immigration officers when they arrived at a Minneapolis hospital with a Mexican immigrant who had broken bones in his face and skull. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents initially claimed Alberto Castañeda Mondragón had tried to flee while handcuffed and “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall,” according to court documents filed by a lawyer seeking his release. But staff members at Hennepin County Medical Center determined that could not possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the 31-year-old’s brain, said three nurses familiar with the case. (Brook, Mustian and Biesecker, 1/31)
The 19th: Fear Of ICE Is Keeping Pregnant Immigrants In Minnesota From Critical Care
Pregnant patients increasingly aren’t showing up for prenatal visits. Those who are are asking if they can have fewer. Some are going without proper nutrition because they’re scared to go to the grocery store. (Luthra, 1/30)
The 74: Children With Disabilities Particularly Vulnerable To Minneapolis ICE Crackdown
The Trump administration’s weeks-long immigration enforcement campaign in Minneapolis, which has shuttered schools and terrified students and parents, has left one group particularly vulnerable: children with disabilities. (Napolitano, 1/30)
Axios: How ICE Operations Are Affecting Children's Children's Mental Health
As the Trump administration ramps up federal immigration enforcement, experts say children across the country may be absorbing the fear and uncertainty of ICE operations — even when they don't understand all the details. (Bragg, 1/30)
AP: Somali-Run Child Care Centers Targeted After Minneapolis Video
It all began after a viral video alleging fraud in Somali-run child care centers in Minneapolis: strangers peering through windows, right-wing journalists showing up outside homes, influencers hurling false accusations. In San Diego, child care provider Samsam Khalif was shuttling kids to her home-based center when she was spooked by two men with a camera waiting in a car parked outside, prompting her to circle the block several times before unloading the children. “I’m scared. I don’t know what their intention is,” said Khalif, who decided to install additional security cameras outside her home. (Balingit and Kramon, 2/1)
In other news about race and health —
AP: Newsom Files A Civil Rights Complaint Against Dr. Oz Over Allegations Of Hospice Fraud
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office is demanding a civil rights investigation of Dr. Mehmet Oz, saying he discriminated against Armenians in a video claiming hospice fraud in Los Angeles, the latest front in the state’s ongoing battle with the Trump administration. The Democratic governor’s complaint, filed Thursday, came after Oz posted a video on social media in front of an Armenian bakery in Los Angeles, alleging that roughly $3.5 billion in hospice and home care fraud has taken place in the city and “quite a bit of it” was run by “the Russian Armenian mafia.” (Ding and Swenson, 1/30)
