Ethics on Call

Healthcare Transcends Borders: Treating Immigrant Patients with Dignity

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In this episode, Dan and Tom interview Dr. Mark Kuczewski about his recent work advocating for immigrant patients during the ongoing federal immigration enforcement surge. They discuss the following:

  • Why the Church has always affirmed the universal human dignity and rights of immigrants and migrants (regardless of legal status)
  • Ways for health professionals to advocate for immigrant patients
  • The need to revise hospitals' forensic patient policies, and
  • Why and how bioethicists are called to speak prophetically when immigrant patients are suffering.

    • Dr. Kuczewski is the Fr. Michael English Professor of Medical Ethics and Director of the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy at Loyola University Chicago, a past president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH), and a Fellow of the Hastings Center. 

    Below are links to the resources and publications referenced in this episode:

    • Sanctuary Doctoring Toolkit - https://www.luc.edu/stritch/bioethics/medicaleducation/sanctuarydoctor/
    • Kuczewski M, Blair A, Nguyen T, Garcia-Izaguirre ML, Dober GJ, “When ICE Brings You the Patient . . . Hospitals Must Stop Victimizing Forensic Patients,” American Journal of Bioethics, Vol. 26, no. 3 (March 12, 2026): 4-6. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2026.2623853
    • Maalouf M, Blair A, Kuczewski M, “Treating Fear: Steps to Help Your Immigrant Patients,” Health Progress, Vol. 106, no. 4 (2025): 9-14, 2025. https://www.chausa.org/news-and-publications/publications/health-progress/archives/fall-2025/treating-fear--steps-to-help-your-immigrant-patients
    • Catholic Health Association, USCCB, & Catholic Charities, Human Dignity is Not Dependent on a Person's Citizenship or Immigration Status (January 23, 2025): https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/human-dignity-not-dependent-persons-citizenship-or-immigration-status?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=
    • President Ronald Wilson Reagan, “Farewell Address to the Nation,” January 11, 1989. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/farewell-address-nation
    • Zeke Hernandez, The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers (St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 2024). https://zekehernandez.net/book/

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      Ethics on CallBy Center for Theology and Ethics in Catholic Health