Minnesotans set up underground medical network as ICE crackdown spreads fear

Doctors and nurses quietly operate informal networks to provide care for patients too afraid to visit hospitals or clinics

Published on Mar. 9, 2026

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As federal immigration agents descended on Minnesota, doctors and nurses have quietly operated informal, underground medical networks, dodging detection to care for patients at home. The crackdown has suppressed immigrants' health care visits, with medical systems reporting cancellation and no-show rates of up to 60% since December. In response, healthcare providers have set up volunteer "rapid response" teams to make over 135 home visits, including helping a woman in labor who did not want to go to the hospital. The story highlights the impact of the Trump administration's immigration policies on access to healthcare in immigrant communities.

Why it matters

The Minnesota crackdown revealed the sweep of the surveillance and capture system the Trump administration is using to uproot immigrant communities in the United States, and the effect of its powerful brake on the medical system. Similar health crises surfaced wherever immigration officers massed in the past year, with public health clinics seeing a drop in vaccination rates and doctors rerouting patients daily from clinic to clinic depending on ICE activity. This story highlights the broader impact of these policies on access to healthcare in immigrant communities.

The details

Doctors and nurses have quietly operated informal, underground medical networks, dodging detection to care for patients at home. After about one-third of her patients stopped showing up for appointments, nurse practitioner Munira Maalimisaq started a volunteer "rapid response" team of about 150 doctors who have made more than 135 home visits. This includes helping a woman who was 39 weeks pregnant and in labor, who did not want to call an ambulance. In other visits, Maalimisaq has seen "people so stressed out they pulled the hair out of their skull" and a mother rationing her child's seizure medicine. Immigration agents have also been spotted sitting in their cars for hours outside health clinics, and drones believed to be operated by immigration agents hover over immigrant communities, causing families to paper over trailer windows out of fear.

  • In December, medical systems in Minnesota reported cancellation and no-show rates of up to 60% due to the immigration crackdown.
  • The Department of Homeland Security declared an end to Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, but health care workers say immigration agents are still present in hospital parking lots and agricultural areas.

The players

Gabi

A 2-year-old girl with a genetic condition that makes her bones brittle. Her mother canceled her scheduled surgery and physical therapy appointments out of fear of leaving their home due to the immigration crackdown.

Munira Maalimisaq

The co-founder of Inspire Change Clinic in Minneapolis' Ventura Village neighborhood, who started a volunteer "rapid response" team of about 150 doctors to make home visits after about one-third of her patients stopped showing up for appointments.

Emily Carroll

A nurse practitioner at HealthFinders Collaborative, a community clinic in Faribault, who says she can no longer guarantee patients' safety at the hospital due to the immigration crackdown.

Tricia McLaughlin

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, who blamed protesters for disrupting access to healthcare and denied that ICE conducts enforcement at hospitals.

Alice Mann

A Minnesota Democratic state senator and physician who says healthcare providers "need to start an underground network of how to get people care in their homes" because "letting people die at home or come close to death because they are terrified to go into the hospital, in 2026, is outrageous."

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What they’re saying

“I want more than anything for my baby to walk. But with the situation that's happening, I canceled the surgery and all the physical therapy appointments' that would have followed. 'Because I'm afraid to leave.”

— Gabi's mother (KFF Health News)

“If anyone is impeding Americans from making appointments or picking up prescriptions, its [sic] violent agitators who are blocking roadways, ramming vehicles, and vandalizing property.”

— Tricia McLaughlin, Spokesperson, Department of Homeland Security (KFF Health News)

“I used to look somebody in the eyes and say, with good faith, 'You will be fine at the hospital.' But now, I can't make that guarantee.”

— Emily Carroll, Nurse practitioner, HealthFinders Collaborative (KFF Health News)

“Someone was in need. I cannot just do nothing. And we cannot call an ambulance against her will and have her shoved in there. We had no choice but to do something, and that was the only thing that we could do safely.”

— Munira Maalimisaq, Co-founder, Inspire Change Clinic (KFF Health News)

“You cannot feel safe anywhere. On the way to school, on the way to clinic, you might pass ICE. The sort of crushing fear and feeling of being trapped that these families are going through is outrageous.”

— Emily Carroll, Nurse practitioner, HealthFinders Collaborative (KFF Health News)

What’s next

The judge in the case will decide on Tuesday whether or not to allow Walker Reed Quinn out on bail.

The takeaway

This story highlights the devastating impact of the Trump administration's immigration policies on access to healthcare in immigrant communities. It underscores the need for healthcare providers to proactively establish underground networks to deliver care to patients too afraid to seek treatment at hospitals or clinics. As the crackdown spreads to other cities, this model of grassroots, community-based care may become a crucial lifeline for vulnerable populations.