Undocumented immigrants in county urged not to be afraid, keep medical appointments

At the Las Islas Family Medical Group clinic in south Oxnard, family nurse practitioner Sandra Young is noticing a worrying trend.

Lately, many of her patients, who about half are indigenous immigrants from Mexico, have not been showing up for appointments. The reason, she said, is fear.

"Particularly when there is any kind of (immigration enforcement) activity in the county, people literally retreat to their homes," she said. "I talk to people regularly and I say, 'Hey, I haven't seen your kid.' And they say, 'Well, we're not going outside right now, we're afraid.'"

A similar trend is playing out at healthcare facilities across the county, said Ventura County Health Care Agency director Johnson Gill. That's despite California recently becoming a sanctuary state with the passage of legislation largely prohibiting state-operated clinics and hospitals from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. On Saturday, Gill and Young gathered with other healthcare representatives and with immigrant rights groups at a community meeting in Oxnard to assure undocumented families they are safe to seek medical care.

"Our mission, our existence as the safety-net system here in Ventura County is to provide quality healthcare regardless of who walks through," Gill said, speaking to about 100 indigenous community members inside Haydock Academy of Arts and Sciences. "Please don't let anybody tell you that our mission is any different than what I just said."

Immigrants without legal residency are feeling increasingly terrorized as news of raids and deportations sweep the community, said Genevieve Flores-Haro, associate director of the Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project, or MICOP, which hosted the meeting. She pointed to the recent detention of popular Oxnard community leader Luis Lopez-Diaz by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and news of a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy in Texas who was detained by border officials last month on her way to the hospital for surgery.

People are frightened they, too, could be detained while traveling to get medical care, or even at the hospital or clinic, meeting organizers said. Many are also needlessly scared to share personal information with healthcare providers for fear it will be turned over to immigration authorities, they said. Even those entitled to apply for Medi-Cal coverage for themselves or their children are refusing to enroll, in case their personal information is used against them for deportation purposes, community organizers said.

"I'm worried," said Flores-Haro, who recounted a report to MICOP that one community member recently died after not seeking early medical attention. "If we don't let the community know they can safely access healthcare in Ventura County, the worry extends to what could happen."

Young said low-income immigrants are at particular risk for infections because many live in crowded housing where viruses and bacteria spread easily. The arrival of flu season adds to that danger, especially among children, pregnant women and the elderly who can experience dangerous complications from the virus, she said.

Addressing the gathering of mostly indigenous farmworkers, community organizer Aracely Preciado urged people not to be afraid.

"Go to your medical appointments. Take your kids to their medical appointments. Your health and your kids' health are very important," she said in Spanish. "I know you share personal information…but that's just for your health records. They're not going to give that information to immigration authorities to deport you."

Other speakers included students with MICOPS's Tequio Youth Group, and representatives from the Clinicas Del Camino Real and Dignity Health systems.

One audience member, who gave her name only as Tere and didn't provide a last name because she doesn't want authorities to know she's undocumented, said the speaker's words made her feel more cheerful. The mother of five children said she panics every time she watches the news or hears rumors about people getting deported.

Recently, she waited almost two weeks to seek help for an ear infection, she said. By that time the pain was so bad she had to go to the emergency room.

"We never know what could happen, when we're driving, on the way (to the doctor)," she said. "Everything makes us fearful."