Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
The ICEmen Cometh -- The potential effects of the current ICE actions on public health
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-icemen-cometh/Peter Lipson
Why would a blog about medicine and science need to address what appears to be a purely political question? Promotion of science-based medicine shouldn't be obscured by unnecessary forays into partisan politics. But our current political crisis affects every facet of our public health environment.
Public health is always political, but does not have to be partisan--there is clear evidence that the current public health policies are broadly unpopular across the political spectrum. While we may disagree on policy goals and methods, we do seem to agree that masked secret police operating with complete impunity is a bad thing. And whatever the political consequences, it is bad for public health. And we have the science to back that up.
The ICE crackdowns affect public health directly, indirectly, and synergistically with other policies. They aren't separate from the administration's attacks on public health. It may seem strange at first to link ICE activities with the dismantling of our public health infrastructure by Kennedy et al. but these are inseparable. The gutting and politicization of the CDC and NIH cannot be separated from violent immigration enforcement and policing. For example, if the CDC and NIH don't track data related to law enforcement violence, it's hard to study. And if people are scared away from seeking healthcare due to immigration actions (and I had to stop myself from typing "Aktions" ) people will sicken and die.
. . .
Aside from harms from direct physical assault and incarceration, how does police violence harm the health of communities and individuals?
The most obvious effect of state violence is injury to the individual. As noted above, hundreds of people die at the hands of law enforcement annually and tens of thousands are hospitalized. But there are broader effects.
It seems obvious that if you are afraid that going to the hospital will get you snatched up by ICE, you'll stay away, and studies back this up. Immigration actions (ugh, again I almost typed "Aktions" ) deter people from seeking health care. This could lead to, for example, worsening of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and other common health problems. It can also lead to the spread of infectious diseases. For example, justice-involved youth were less likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic.
. . .
Public health is always political, but does not have to be partisan--there is clear evidence that the current public health policies are broadly unpopular across the political spectrum. While we may disagree on policy goals and methods, we do seem to agree that masked secret police operating with complete impunity is a bad thing. And whatever the political consequences, it is bad for public health. And we have the science to back that up.
The ICE crackdowns affect public health directly, indirectly, and synergistically with other policies. They aren't separate from the administration's attacks on public health. It may seem strange at first to link ICE activities with the dismantling of our public health infrastructure by Kennedy et al. but these are inseparable. The gutting and politicization of the CDC and NIH cannot be separated from violent immigration enforcement and policing. For example, if the CDC and NIH don't track data related to law enforcement violence, it's hard to study. And if people are scared away from seeking healthcare due to immigration actions (and I had to stop myself from typing "Aktions" ) people will sicken and die.
. . .
Aside from harms from direct physical assault and incarceration, how does police violence harm the health of communities and individuals?
The most obvious effect of state violence is injury to the individual. As noted above, hundreds of people die at the hands of law enforcement annually and tens of thousands are hospitalized. But there are broader effects.
It seems obvious that if you are afraid that going to the hospital will get you snatched up by ICE, you'll stay away, and studies back this up. Immigration actions (ugh, again I almost typed "Aktions" ) deter people from seeking health care. This could lead to, for example, worsening of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and other common health problems. It can also lead to the spread of infectious diseases. For example, justice-involved youth were less likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic.
. . .
