California Weekly Roundup: Families Search for Hospitalized ICE Detainees

Plus: California's budget hole; the latest on ACA subsidies; mental health hospitals warn of cuts; Planned Parenthood funding; gender care in California; measles at Disney California Adventure Park; and more

Not a subscriber? Sign Up Wednesday, February 04, 2026 Visit KFF Health News for the latest California headlines California Weekly Roundup THIS WEEK'S FEATURE 'I Can't Tell You': Attorneys, Relatives Struggle To Find Hospitalized ICE Detainees (OONA ZENDA / KFF HEALTH NEWS) By Claudia Boyd-Barrett   Lydia Romero strained to hear her husband's feeble voice through the phone.   A week earlier, immigration agents had grabbed Julio César Peña from his front yard in Glendale, California. Now, he was in a hospital after suffering a ministroke. He was shackled to the bed by his hand and foot, he told Romero, and agents were in the room, listening to the call. He was scared he would die and wanted his wife there.   "What hospital are you at?" Romero asked.   "I can't tell you," he replied.   Viridiana Chabolla, Peña's attorney, couldn't get an answer to that question, either. Peña's deportation officer and the medical contractor at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center refused to tell her. Exasperated, she tried calling a nearby hospital, Providence St. Mary Medical Center.   "They said even if they had a person in ICE custody under their care, they wouldn't be able to confirm whether he's there or not, that only ICE can give me the information," Chabolla said. The hospital confirmed this policy to KFF Health News.   Family members and attorneys for patients hospitalized after being detained by federal immigration officials said they are facing extreme difficulty trying to locate patients, get information about their well-being, and provide them emotional and legal support. They say many hospitals refuse to provide information or allow contact with these patients. Instead, hospitals allow immigration officers to call the shots on how much — if any — contact is allowed, which can deprive patients of their constitutional right to seek legal advice and leave them vulnerable to abuse, attorneys said.   Hospitals say they are trying to protect the safety and privacy of patients, staff, and law enforcement officials, even while hospital employees in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Portland, Ore., cities where Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conducted immigration raids, say it's made their jobs difficult. Hospitals have used what are sometimes called blackout procedures, which can include registering a patient under a pseudonym, removing their name from the hospital directory, or prohibiting staff from even confirming that a patient is in the hospital.   "We've heard incidences of this blackout process being used at multiple hospitals across the state, and it's very concerning," said Shiu-Ming Cheer, the deputy director of immigrant and racial justice at the California Immigrant Policy Center, an advocacy group. Read the full story. Follow us online for more KFF Health News coverage: Top Health Headlines From Around California Health Care Funding and ACA Politico: Newsom Bets Big On Trump's Goodwill To Shrink California's Budget Hole Gavin Newsom is making a billion-dollar gamble in his latest budget plan, banking on money from a tax on health insurance carriers to help close a projected deficit. (Bluth, 1/28)   The Sacramento Bee: House Votes To End Shutdown As California Lawmakers Split Along Party Lines All nine California Republicans voted for the bill. Forty-two of the 43 California Democrats voted no. The only Democratic yes vote was Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego. (Lightman, 2/3)   KCRA: CA Dems Blast Federal Spending Plan Without Health Care Subsidies The spending package approved this week keeps the federal government funded, but it does not address the expiration of key Affordable Care Act health care subsidies—an issue that lawmakers say was the primary driver of last year's record 43-day government shutdown. (Ming, 3/3)   Los Angeles Times: Healthcare Experts Warn 'People Will Die' Unless State Steps Up Amid Federal Cuts As massive federal cuts are upending the health care system in California, analysts and health care professionals are urging the state to soften the blow by creating new revenue streams and helping residents navigate through the red tape. (King, 2/1)   San Francisco Examiner: New Covered California Enrollment Down After Subsidies Lapse New enrollment in California's Affordable Care Act health-insurance marketplace fell by nearly one-third from the previous year, according to state officials, with federal insurance-premium subsidies no longer in place. (Gurevich, 2/2) Medicaid and SNAP CalMatters: Valadao's Medicaid Vote Could Cost Him His California Seat Rep. David Valadao cast the deciding vote to slash Medicaid despite representing a California district where 64% of constituents rely on it. (Miller, 2/2)   USA Today: New SNAP Requirements Started Feb. 1. What Changed In California? New federal restrictions and requirements to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)started Feb. 1. Here's what to know. (Bridges, Walrath-Holdridge, and Segura, 2/3) Health Care Industry CalMatters: California Mental Health Hospitals Warn Of Cuts After State Hands Down Staffing Rules California is postponing emergency staffing requirements for acute psychiatric hospitals until June 1 amid bed and workforce shortages. (Hwang, 1/28)   Voice of OC: Orange County Health Care Workers Strike For Second Week Over 30,000 health care workers at Kaiser Permanente hospitals in California and Hawaii continue their strike for better pay and staffing. (Hicks, 2/2)   The Orange County Register: Future Of Mission Hospital Laguna Beach Not Expected To Include ER, Acute Services  Operators expect to close the emergency room and stop offering acute care services on site as they consider the future of Providence Mission Hospital Laguna Beach. (Ritchie, 2/2)   The Morgan Hill Times: Resource Center Brings More Healthcare Options To South County  Santa Clara Family Health Plan has opened the South County Community Resource Center at 150 Leavesley Road in Gilroy. (2/2)   Los Angeles Times: UCLA Medical School Accused Of Systemically Racist Admissions Approach  The Trump administration on Wednesday sought to join a federal lawsuit alleging that UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine illegally considers race in admissions. (Kaleem, 1/28) Reproductive Care Los Angeles Times: Planned Parenthood, Reproductive Healthcare Could Receive $90 Million In New State Funding  California will bolster funding for Planned Parenthood and other providers of reproductive health with a one-time infusion of $90 million. (King, 1/30)   Los Angeles Times: California Doctor Sent Abortion Pills To Texas Woman. Under A New Law, Her Boyfriend Is Suing  A California doctor this week became the first physician to be sued under a new Texas law that allows private citizens to pursue civil legal action against anyone who provides abortion medication in Texas. (Fry, 2/3) LGBTQ+ Health KCRA: California Sues Hospital For Complying With Trump Administration's Gender-Affirming Care Policy California Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a lawsuit against Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. (Joseph, 2/1)   Politico: Trump Administration Finds California's Ban On 'Forced Outing' Of Students Violates Federal Law  Federal officials threatened to pull education funding unless the state takes steps to amend its rules. (He, 1/28) Immigration Crisis CalMatters: California State Workers Must Prove Citizenship Via E-Verify Thousands of health department employees were told they must use the E-Verify system to keep funding. They are pushing back. (Johnson, 1/29)   Redlands Daily Facts: Deaf LA Teenager Says Immigration Officers Assaulted Him For Not Heeding Commands  Multiple people are heard in the background of a video yelling, "He's deaf! He cannot hear!" and asking officers not to hurt him. (Vergara, 2/2)   Imperial Valley Press: ICE Blocks Rep. Ruiz From Oversight Visit At Adelanto Facility Amid Surge In Custodial Deaths  U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., was denied entry to the Adelanto Detention Facility last Wednesday. (1/30) Public Health Los Angeles Times: Person Infected With Measles Visited Disney California Adventure Park  Orange County confirmed a measles case from an international traveler who visited Disney California Adventure Park. L.A. County confirmed its third case in a resident who went to a Sherman Oaks restaurant. (Lin and Harter, 2/2)   inewsource: San Diego County Will Fix A Toxic Hotspot In The Tijuana River, Fund Epidemiological Study They also extended an air purifier distribution program, which doctors and scientists have said is a critical short-term strategy to improve health conditions for residents. (Salata, 1/29)   The Sacramento Bee: Toxic Wild Mushrooms Kill Man In Contra Costa County  A man in his 60s died after eating toxic mushrooms, possibly death cap mushrooms, foraged at a regional park in Contra Costa County. (Sweeney, 1/28) Homelessness Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Cuts Nearly $200 Million In Homeless Services  L.A. County Board of Supervisors' move Tuesday to cut nearly $200 million in programs to help the homeless will hit outreach and navigation services hard. (Khouri, 2/3)   San Francisco Examiner: SoMa Residents Push Back On New Homeless, Drug Services  Neighborhood leaders allege new homeless services are still concentrated in SoMa even after the passage of a new law that calls for the even distribution of shelters across San Francisco. (Gurevich, 2/2)   inewsource: Oceanside Volunteers Complete Yearly Count Of Homeless Residents The Point-in-Time count is widely considered an undercount, but it is the closest thing to an accurate count of the unhoused population. (Futterman, 1/29)   San Francisco Chronicle: Report: Police Are Likelier To Use Force Against Homeless Residents When police in California stop a driver or pedestrian whom they believe to be homeless, they're far more likely to search, handcuff, deploy force against and arrest that person than others they pull over, a new state report says. (Egelko, 2/3) Other California News CalMatters: Cops Have To Treat Marijuana In Your Car Differently After New California Supreme Court Ruling The high court ruled that police must find marijuana in a condition that's ready to be smoked if they are going to charge a driver with an open container violation. (Duara, 1/29)   CalMatters: Newsom Touts California's Drug Enforcement Efforts Since 2021, Gov. Newsom said, National Guard troops have seized 34,357 pounds of fentanyl worth an estimated $506 million at California ports of entry. (Brennan, 2/3)   The Washington Post: Gavin Newsom Sat By His Mother During Her Assisted Suicide, And Came To Terms With Anger And Grief  Gov. Gavin Newsom's account of his mother's death at 55 by assisted suicide is one of the most revealing passages in the California governor's book, "Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery," which will be published Feb. 24. (Reston, 2/4)   The Modesto Bee: Speech Therapist Pleads Guilty To Battering Child At Sonora School A Tuolumne County speech therapist has pleaded guilty to battering a young student with autism on a school campus, while two school administrators face misdemeanor charges for allegedly failing to report the incident. (Condoleo, 2/2) This Week's 'KFF Health News Minute' An expensive new gene therapy that can potentially cure people with sickle cell disease will be covered by Medicaid, but only when it works for patients. Plus, community health centers are preparing to help care for millions more uninsured people. Listen to Zach Dyer ▶️ KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.   (c) 2026 KFF. 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