Federal immigration enforcement is increasingly affecting hospitals, as record-high arrests this past summer coincided with a Trump administration policy shift that made it easier for immigration agents to access locations previously treated as sensitive areas. Hospitals are among those locations. The change raises concerns about how enforcement activity can affect patients seeking care and the health workers treating them. The impacts include physical and economic costs for both groups, according to a discussion released Oct. 8 featuring Dr. William D. Lopez, author of “Raiding the Heartland: An American Story of Deportation and Resistance.” The policy shift comes amid an expansion of immigration enforcement. The available information does not specify the number of arrests, the precise rules governing agents’ access to hospitals or particular cases involving patients or staff. It describes the broader concern: when immigration enforcement reaches health care settings, people may face consequences beyond the arrest itself. Hospitals serve communities regardless of immigration status. Any enforcement policy affecting access to them carries stakes for patients, health care workers and the institutions responsible for providing care.