Plate Nº 11 · recorded October 10, 2026
Health & Medicine ResearchReported finding
Missed Pediatric Visits Rose After Chicago ICE Crackdown
After Chicago's Operation Midway Blitz, Spanish-speaking families' missed pediatric visits jumped 8.7 points, a new AAP conference study finds.
By Marcus Bennett3 min read520 words
In brief
- No-show and cancellation rates rose 8.7 percentage points among Spanish-speaking families after Operation Midway Blitz.
- The study covered nearly 100,000 appointments at a Midwest pediatric referral center, 2018–2025.
- Latine patients saw a 4.2-point rise vs. 1.5 points for non-Latine patients.
- More than 1,258 missed appointments occurred in the Latine group alone.
- Findings were presented at the AAP 2026 National Conference, Oct. 2–6, in San Diego.
Missed and canceled pediatric appointments rose sharply after a January 2025 immigration enforcement crackdown in Chicago, with Spanish-speaking families seeing no-show and cancellation rates climb by 8.7 percentage points, according to research presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics 2026 National Conference and Exhibition in San Diego.
The study examined nearly 100,000 appointments scheduled after the enforcement push, known as Operation Midway Blitz. Researchers analyzed all outpatient visits at a large Midwest pediatric referral center between 2018 and 2025. The institution asked to remain unnamed to protect patient and family privacy.
The enforcement operation followed Executive Order 14161, signed in January 2025. The findings will be presented during the Oct. 2–6 conference at the San Diego Convention Center.
Who missed the most appointments?
Rates of patient-canceled visits and no-shows increased across every group the researchers studied after the crackdown began. But the increases were far from equal:
- Latine vs. non-Latine patients: 4.2 vs. 1.5 percentage points
- Spanish-speaking vs. non-Spanish-speaking families: 8.7 vs. 1.6 percentage points
- Patients in high-enforcement ZIP codes vs. other areas: 5.1 vs. 2.2 percentage points
Within the Latine group alone, the authors counted more than 1,258 missed appointments following the crackdown.
"When families fear leaving home, children miss more than appointments—they miss opportunities for both lifesaving and preventive care," said co-author Teresa "Tess" Trinka, M.D., a pediatric resident. "Our findings highlight the downstream impact of immigration policy on pediatric health care utilization in Chicago."
What are the health consequences?
Missed and canceled visits tied to immigration enforcement can delay preventive care and timely diagnosis, the researchers said, and that harm extends beyond individual children to entire communities. Because non-English-speaking and Latine patients, along with families living in neighborhoods targeted by enforcement actions, were significantly more likely to miss scheduled visits, the pattern widens existing health care inequities.
Co-author Frances Ho, M.D., also a pediatric resident, described one case that motivated the research: "I took care of a girl on the oncology service whose parent was unable to come visit her due to fears of being taken by ICE. Her story stuck with me, and this project is a way to understand the scope of ICE's impact on patient care in the city of Chicago."
The study, titled "Immigrant Family Access to Pediatric Health Care after Executive Order 14161 and Operation Midway Blitz," is an abstract presented at a conference rather than a peer-reviewed publication, so its findings should be read as preliminary.
What do the researchers recommend?
The authors conclude that health care systems and policymakers must weigh the unintended health consequences of immigration enforcement and put strategies in place that ensure equitable access to care for children in affected communities.
For families afraid to travel to clinics, the gap in care can compound quickly. Routine checkups, vaccinations and early diagnoses all depend on children actually making it through the door—and the Chicago data suggest that door became harder to reach for thousands of families in early 2025.
via Medical Xpress (Source)
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