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Trump White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt sparked outrage on Thursday after dodging a question about whether emergency rooms should check a patient’s immigration status before providing life-saving treatment to them.
Leavitt was asked directly by a reporter: “Should ERs check immigration status before treating a dying patient?”
She replied: “That’s probably not a question for me to answer. I think that’s a question for healthcare professionals and legal experts to answer.”
Medical professionals swiftly condemned Leavitt’s evasive response.
CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a cardiologist and professor at George Washington University, called the idea of denying emergency care based on immigration status “grossly immoral.”
“Requiring ERs to check immigration status before providing emergency care to a dying patient would be grossly immoral, and no doctor I know would comply,” Reiner wrote on social media. “I certainly wouldn’t.”
Dr. Craig Spencer, an ER physician who famously survived Ebola, said he never asks about immigration status or insurance when treating patients in a critical condition.
“My job is to respond to the person in front of me, as if neither immigration nor insurance matters. Because in that moment, neither of those things matter. So tell me, what do Americans want me to do when the person dying before me is undocumented? Let them die? And what if they’re uninsured? Check that they’ve paid their monthly dues before I check their pulse?”
Spencer added: “We should stop making this an argument about providing emergency care to certain populations. And start asking how it reflects on us all if we’re truly willing to withhold care in those moments of emergency — just because of what a piece of paper might or might not say.”
Leavitt’s remarks came as Republicans continued attempting to shift blame for the ongoing government shutdown onto Democrats, falsely claiming it stems from Democratic efforts to provide healthcare access to undocumented immigrants.
REPORTER: Should ERs check immigration status before treating a dying patient?
LEAVITT: That's probably not a question for me to answer. That's a question for healthcare professionals and legal experts to answer.
(That's not a no!) pic.twitter.com/EOebtDZKkT
Requiring ERs to check immigration status before providing emergency care to a dying patient would be grossly immoral and no doctor I know would comply. I certainly wouldn’t. https://t.co/G6dNifK2pb
— Jonathan Reiner (@JReinerMD) October 3, 2025In 18 years as an ER doc, I ask about immigration status about as often as I ask about insurance—which is never
My job is to respond to the person in front me, as if neither immigration or insurance matters
Because in that moment, neither of those things matter
So tell me,… https://t.co/OeOCnUolMa
The refusal to immediately take the stance that “dying people should receive care no matter what” is deeply disturbing and immoral and I think crosses a line we haven’t seen yet https://t.co/hZelK7WpE9
— Merrick 🦂 (@punishedmother) October 2, 2025As an actual healthcare provider in the emergency room, it is wholly unethical for me to ask someone their immigration status or ability to pay before I treat them. The fact we need to say this proves how much we have already fallen as a nation. Total lack of empathy. https://t.co/bpF37elZpi
— Dr Mickolas, MD (@Mickolas9) October 2, 2025Anyone whose immediate answer to this isn't "no, obviously not" has failed a basic check of humanity in a modern society. https://t.co/eOa0vZF0ty
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) October 2, 2025Nurse here. The answer is no. When I’ve jumped on the chest of a human being in cardiac arrest the only thing I’m thinking about is that they’re a human being who needs my help. Utterly done with these racists, awful people. https://t.co/bEqMxRwQey
— Annemarie Dray (@AnnemarieDray) October 2, 2025The thing that bothers me so much is not the “we have to enforce our borders and laws.” We do.
It’s the giddy joy and celebration they have at the misery of people far less fortunate.
Always punching down https://t.co/voXUUsXkOf
I’ve been a doctor for 20 years. If your daughter went into cardiac arrest, would you want me to stop and ask for her passport & insurance papers, or would you prefer I start chest compressions and save her life? https://t.co/qGHFEdlYyO
— Seema Jilani (@SeemaJilani) October 2, 2025Don'tBuyThe Big Lie
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“Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and actually, wait, hold on a second, where are you from again?” - John 5:8 https://t.co/CMUeWKM5zp
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