A Venezuelan-born family physician who had been caring for Americans with chronic illnesses in an area facing a shortage of doctors was detained by Border Patrol agents in Texas late Monday.
The doctor, Ezequiel Veliz, was featured in a New York Times article last weekend that detailed how a Trump administration policy had frozen visa extensions, work permits and green cards for citizens of 39 countries, forcing some foreign-born physicians out of U.S. hospitals.
Dr. Veliz treated people with diabetes, hypertension and other ailments and was named resident of the year in 2025 at UT Health, Rio Grande Valley. He had entered the United States legally and was forced to withdraw from his position after losing his work permit because his immigration status ended. He had been trying to transition to a new visa, according to documents he submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that were reviewed by The Times.
UT Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Dr. Gerardo Munoz said Dr. Veliz had been detained on a highway in South Texas. Two other physicians also confirmed Dr. Veliz’s detainment. Dr. Munoz was Dr. Veliz’s former supervisor at UT Health, Rio Grande Valley.
“I can affirm 100 percent the quality of Dr. Veliz as a physician and person,” said Dr. Munoz, who is now in private practice. “He outperformed during his training.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In response to the Times article from last weekend, the department said it had paused decisions on cases involving immigrants from “high-risk countries” to ensure they are “vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
Dr. Veliz, 32, was among a growing number of foreign-trained doctors who were abruptly sidelined by a little-known immigration policy that has affected hospitals across the country.
In recent months, dozens of physicians had to leave their positions after the federal government suspended the processing of their visas and work permits because they were from countries on a travel-ban list.
Scientists, engineers and other professionals from several countries, including Iran, Libya and Venezuela, many of whom were in the United States lawfully, now face fallout from the policy, which was put in place in January.
Dr. Veliz was working in a region the federal government designated as underserved by doctors. Many attending physicians start their careers there as medical residents and settle permanently in the area.
“It is very important to have physicians like him in an area where U.S. physicians don’t go,” said Dr. Munoz, adding that losing doctors like Dr. Veliz was a “disservice to our population.”
The United States faces a shortage of about 65,000 physicians, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. That gap is expected to increase significantly over the next decade as Americans live longer and more physicians retire.
Foreign doctors have long helped fill that gap. They comprise 25 percent of all doctors practicing in the country. Many have become American citizens.
A list reviewed by The Times identified more than 100 physicians affected by the new policy. Some doctors are already on administrative leave; others face job loss in the coming months when their work permits and visas expire. The list was compiled by the doctors themselves.
In a Feb. 27 letter to the secretaries of the Homeland Security and State Departments, the chief executive of the American Medical Association, John Whyte, called for an exemption from the policy for physicians, citing national interest and harm to patients.
In a letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in support of having Dr. Veliz’s visa approved, Dr. James Fahey, an assistant professor of family and community medicine at UT Health, Rio Grande Valley, called him “an impressive physician and person and has been a great benefit to the state of Texas in delivering high quality medical care.”
“Being myself a native-born citizen of the United States of America with native-born parents, for me a person like Dr. Veliz is exactly the type we want in the United States treating our patients,” the letter said.
Miriam Jordan reports from a grass roots perspective on immigrants and their impact on the demographics, society and economy of the United States.
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