Immunization clinics in San Diego, California, are usually packed in August as parents prepare their kids for the new school year.

Not this year.

With agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) often waiting outside medical clinics in some states, many immigrant families are now afraid to seek healthcare, said Pia Pannaraj, MD, MPH, a professor of pediatrics at the University of California San Diego and a vice chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) Committee on Infectious Diseases.

“We saw a huge drop off in people getting vaccinated,” Pannaraj told CIDRAP News. Many immigrant parents are afraid of being detained or arrested by ICE, she said. “It’s a valid fear.”

31% say fewer families applying for government programs

Almost half of all pediatricians in the United States (39.6%) believe they’re seeing fewer families for medical care because of worries about immigration status, per a national AAP survey published today in Pediatrics. Clinicians report that about 26.2% of their patients come from families that immigrated to the United States.

Additional support is likely needed to bolster pediatricians’ ability to identify and address these concerns in a sensitive way that ensures family safety and confidentiality.

About one-third of pediatricians (31.3%) also noted that fewer families applied to government programs, and 21.3% said some families have stopped sending their children to school. 

Many pediatricians reported being unsure whether they’ve been seeing fewer immigrant families, “suggesting an underestimation of families affected,” the authors wrote. “Additional support is likely needed to bolster pediatricians’ ability to identify and address these concerns in a sensitive way that ensures family safety and confidentiality.”