Beyond policy: ethical considerations of immigration enforcement & policies

Healthcare access for undocumented immigrants in the Unites States is limited by a complex intersection of legal, structural, and social barriers. Due to exclusions from most options for health insurance, many undocumented immigrants have extremely limited options to receive healthcare. Emergency departments are the only legally protected location within the healthcare system; however, this protection is very limited in scope. The fragile protections leave undocumented immigrants uniquely vulnerable to changes in the sociopolitical landscape that can further restrict already limited healthcare. This thesis argues that contemporary immigrations enforcement policies, rhetoric, and media coverage have created a state of immense fear and uncertainty that deter undocumented immigrants from seeking healthcare despite legal protections to be seen in the emergency department. In this work, I evaluate immigration status as a social determinant of health, analyzing how fear of deportation influences healthcare utilization. Using lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, I argue that undocumented immigrants are at risk of losing healthcare access due to changing immigration policies. I then argue that this further restriction threatens the core bioethics principles of justice and autonomy while also adding increasing moral strain to healthcare providers. The current era of immigration policies has created an unjust, unethical, and morally reprehensible environment in which harm is enacted on individuals, communities, and systems at large. The current system prioritizes legal status over human life, forcing individuals to avoid necessary care due to fears of deportation and not medical need.

Grantor dc:publisher

Temple University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Hernandez, Patrick

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hart, Brendan

• Ethics
• Urban bioethics

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://scholarshare.temple.edu/handle/20.500.12613/12215

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/12215