DETROIT, March 24, 2026: The ACLU of Michigan and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) sent guidance this week to over 400 Michigan hospitals and healthcare providers regarding the rights of immigrant patients in healthcare settings. The guidance is intended to help healthcare providers protect access to care for all Michiganders and comply with their legal responsibilities to ensure that their facilities remain accessible and safe for all patients.
Healthcare institutions are uniquely sensitive places where people seek care that is often urgent, confidential, and essential to their health, safety, and wellbeing. For many immigrant families, whether they seek this care is often dependent on feeling safe and protected. The presence of law enforcement – or even the threat of its presence – at or near healthcare facilities can prevent patients from seeking needed care and raise questions for healthcare providers about patient rights, privacy, and institutional responsibilities.
This guidance seeks to provide answers for healthcare workers so they can reassure patients and reinforce clear, consistent procedures for responding to any law enforcement encounters, including from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The guidance includes a checklist that healthcare facilities can implement to protect patients before an encounter with law enforcement, during the enforcement event, and post-encounter.
The guidance also addresses recent federal policy changes affecting Medicaid data privacy and eligibility for major health and nutrition programs.
Top highlights from the guidance include:
- Healthcare facilities are not required to ask patients for immigration documentation or immigration status as a condition of care. Intake forms, registration processes, and clinical documentation should not include questions about immigration status, nationality, or citizenship unless such information is strictly required for a specific and lawful purpose.
- Frontline staff should be trained not to share patient information or documents in response to law enforcement requests. Healthcare facilities are not required to voluntarily assist law enforcement by searching records, confirming a patient’s presence, or volunteering other information beyond what is legally required. Protecting patient confidentiality is essential to maintaining trust and ensuring that patients seek care when they need it.
- Designate Public and Private Areas: Facilities should clearly identify which areas are open to the public and which are private or restricted. Treatment rooms, inpatient units, operating rooms, staff-only spaces, and records areas should be designated as non-public.
- Develop a Law Enforcement Response Plan and Document Encounters Appropriately: Facilities should maintain a written response protocol for law enforcement encounters, similar to other emergency or incident-response plans. Facilities should also document the date, time, location, officers involved, documentation presented, and actions taken during any law enforcement encounter. Accurate documentation supports accountability and institutional consistency.
For more information visit www.aclumich.org or www.michiganimmigrant.org.