Rosa, A Child with Symptoms of Psychosis, Was In Detention. Medical Review for Immigrants Helped Her Get Out, and Into Emergency Care.

Rosa* is a young child with cerebral palsy. Like thousands of other children, she had crossed with her family into the US seeking asylum, and was brought to a detention facility. At the detention facility, Rosa began exhibiting signs of psychosis. Her parents were highly concerned with the changes in her behavior.

Luckily, the pro-bono attorney for Rosa’s parents was aware of MCN’s Medical Review for Immigrants. She contacted MCN. We forwarded Rosa’s case records to a child psychiatrist in our MRI network, who has been trained by MCN to review cases and submit letters of declaration when appropriate to ask for a humanitarian release.

The child psychiatrist reviewed Rosa’s medical records, and determined that Rosa should not be in detention for her mental health. She submitted a request for humanitarian parole -- and Rosa received it. She and her family are now living in a community, awaiting their court date. Despite her medical conditions, Rosa was ready to start her new life in the US. Thanks to MRI, she is able to get further medical assistance in her community, and is in an environment more appropriate for her well-being.

Medical Review for Immigrants stands firm in the face of scathing political winds. Since launching last year, we have trained 18 pediatric and adult medicine clinicians. These clinicians have responded to 12 cases. Not all parole applications have been approved, but our efforts are imperative. We are one of only a few organizations with a program focused on building and executing a network of clinicians to review documentation to apply for humanitarian parole, in spite of, and in the face of, a rapidly shifting immigration environment.

We thank you for your support over the last year, and we look forward to another year of training clinicians, connecting them with pro-bono attorneys, and helping immigrants with serious and life-threatening health concerns to get out of detention and into emergency medical care and beyond.

Medical Review for Immigrants seeks more physicians to join, particularly adult physicians and psychiatrists. To learn more about upcoming clinician trainings, please contact Deliana Garcia at dgarcia@migrantclinician.org.

*Patient’s name has been changed to protect patient identity.

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