Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Westwood on Tuesday afternoon to seek emergency care for a detainee, drawing a crowd of protesters concerned about the agents’ presence, university officials said.
Two ICE officers brought a detainee into the emergency room for treatment, Steve Lurie, UCLA associate vice chancellor for campus and community safety, told The Times. The patient’s medical evaluation did not require them to be admitted to the hospital, and they were later discharged into ICE custody. No information was available about the patient’s health.
“Despite reports on social media, there is no ICE operation happening at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center,” said UCLA Health in a statement.
Hospital staff called UCLA police officers to the building to verify the federal agents’ identity. Officers checked the agents’ credentials and confirmed they were with ICE, Lurie said.
A crowd of around 50 people gathered outside the hospital Tuesday afternoon in response to reports of ICE’s presence, underscoring the heightened level of community tension around ongoing immigration actions in the Los Angeles area.
Healthcare facilities that serve low-income patients have reported a recent spike in no-shows as residents lacking documentation opt to skip medical visits amid rumors of raids at hospitals and clinics.
Trained observers from the L.A. Rapid Response Network witnessed a woman being escorted out of an underground parking lot at the medical center by two federal agents and loaded into a van at 3:37 p.m., said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, director of communications for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights L.A. (CHIRLA). This network, led by CHIRLA, trains volunteers, attorneys and educators to respond to and verify reports of ICE activity in Greater Los Angeles.
“At some level, there’s a little bit of relief that at least ICE brought the patient in rather than just hauling them away without any care,” said Randall Kuhn, UCLA professor of public health, who came to the facility in response to reports of agents. “ICE doesn’t necessarily have a reputation for being very focused on detainee health.”
However, he added, he is worried about the risk of the patient experiencing another medical emergency if their health issue was triggered by the stress of being detained by ICE. He also raised questions about whether the patient received linguistically and culturally appropriate care.
“Was the person assessed for social determinants of health?” said Kuhn. “Were they [doctors] able to address the possibility that the person would be at risk if they were released, given that ICE agents were present?”
Lurie said that the process for discharging the detainee was the same that is used when any law enforcement agency brings a person in custody into a hospital for treatment.
If Tuesday’s incident at the medical center had actually been an enforcement action, UCLA Police could not have intervened. The agency does not have the authority to block federal immigration agents from entering areas on campus or medical facilities that are open to the general public.
If immigration enforcement officers seek to enter a limited-access healthcare area — such as patient rooms or closed wards — UCLA advises staff to contact their administrator and the medical center’s legal representative to review any warrants or subpoenas to determine whether entry is allowed. Staff are told to ask the agents for their name, identification number and agency affiliation and to tell them that they are not obstructing their process but need to contact administrators for assistance.
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