Ethics Grand Rounds | Can ICE Detain Without Doctors? The Hippocratic Oath in Immigration Detention

Ethics Grand Rounds: Can ICE Detain Without Doctors? The Hippocratic Oath in Immigration Detention

Journal Articles

• Annas GJ. Hunger Strikes at Guantanamo — Medical Ethics and Human Rights in a “Legal Black Hole”. N Engl J Med. 2006;355(13):1377–1382.

• Boyd JW. Force-Feeding Prisoners Is Wrong. AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(10):904–908.

• Diaz C, Ortiz V, Sanchez L, Fernandez J, Andrade EA, Akiyama MJ, Ross J. Harmful by Design — A Qualitative Study of the Health Impacts of Immigration Detention. J Gen Intern Med. 2023;38(9):2030–2037.

• Miles SH. Medical Associations and Accountability for Physician Participation in Torture. AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(10):945–951.

• Parmar P, Ross M, Terp S, et al. Mapping Factors Associated with Deaths in Immigration Detention in the United States, 2011–2018: A Thematic Analysis Lancet Reg Health Am. 2021;2:100040.

• Saadi A, De Trinidad Young ME, Patler C, Estrada JL, Venters H. Understanding US Immigration Detention: Reaffirming Rights and Addressing Social-Structural Determinants of Health Health Hum Rights. 2020;22(1):187–197.

• Spiegel P, Kass N, Rubenstein L. Can Physicians Work in US Immigration Detention Facilities While Upholding Their Hippocratic Oath? JAMA. 2019;322(15):1445–1446. 

Reports & Investigations

• Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) & Human Rights Watch (HRW). Dying in Detention: Rising Deaths in an Expanding US Immigration Detention System 2026.

• Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). Cruelty Campaign: Solitary Confinement in U.S. Immigration Detention 2025.

• New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI). Denied Care, Denied Dignity: Systemic Medical Failures in Immigration Detention at Orange County Jail 2025.

• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), American Oversight & Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). Deadly Failures: Preventable Deaths in U.S. Immigration Detention 2024.

• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) & Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). Behind Closed Doors: Abuse and Retaliation Against Hunger Strikers in U.S. Immigration Detention 2021.

Practice and Community Resources

• National Immigration Law Center (NILC). Advocating on Behalf of Patients in Immigration Custody: A Resource for Health Care Providers and Medical Staff 2026.

• Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) & National Immigration Law Center (NILC). Health Care and U.S. Immigration Enforcement: What Providers Need to Know March 2025. (Enforcement actions in medical spaces; provider rights and obligations.)

• Make the Road New York (MRNY). Deportation Defense Manual 2022. (Know Your Rights; rapid response to raids; deportation defense. Spanish edition available.)

• Everyone Belongs Here. EveryoneBelongsHere.net Community rights and preparedness resources; letter templates.