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This week’s newsletter features a special issue concerning lawsuits impacting immigrant health, including healthcare access, conditions in detention centers, and an update concerning the continued impact of Mullin v. Doe and the loss of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian & Syrian noncitizens. You can find our archive newsletters here.
Immigrant Children with Special Health Needs
In Snader v. TN Dept. of Health (Davidson County Tennessee Chancery Court; Docket No. 26-0825-I) three Nashville physicians sued the Tennessee Department of Health to block a new state rule that would require reporting families’ information to immigration authorities if the state believes their status is suspect. The physicians’ patients are among 400 immigrant children in the state that use a federally funded health care program known as Children’s Special Services (CSS). CSS is a safety-net program that was implemented in the 1930s to serve children with terminal or life-threatening illness, regardless of immigration status, if they lack any other access to care.
Starting in September of 2025, local health departments were informed that they would need to comply with a new rule from the Tennessee Department of Health that would require them to verify the immigration status of everyone enrolled in a public benefit program, including CSS. Following the implementation of the new rule, the affected families received a letter from CSS informing them of the new reporting requirements.
Plaintiffs filed suit on June 24, 2026, alleging that the new rule violated Tennessee’s rulemaking requirements and exceeded the department’s authority and is preempted by federal law, namely The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. They also filed for a temporary restraining order to prevent the disclosure of identifying information about the minor patients enrolled in CSS until the lawsuit is decided since any disruption in care would be harmful, or deadly, to the affected patients. On July 14, the Davidson County Chancery Court entered an Agreed Temporary Injunction to protect affected families under after trial. The trial has not yet been scheduled.
Immigration Detention and Public Health
In Colorado Dept. Public Health & Environment v. The Geo Group (U.S. District Court, District of Colorado, Docket No. 1:26-CV-03844) the Colorado health department alleges that Geo Group – which contracts with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to run the Aurora immigration detention facility – failed to comply with a June 25, 2026 public health order by refusing to provide access to the facility or the requested records of federal immigration detainees. This failure to comply then hindered the health department’s attempt to investigate media reports of tuberculosis at the facility. The spread of tuberculosis in congregated populations (such as prisons or detention facilities) is a well-known public health hazard requiring vigilant screening, testing, and treatment plans.
The lawsuit was filed to enforce the public health order. Plaintiffs filed their complaint on August 19, 2026. Also of note, on August 20, GEO Group won a partial injunction in the same court (Docket No. 1:26-cv-02533) against the recently enacted Colorado House Bill 26-1276, which called for increased inspections of facilities that house or detain individuals in immigration proceedings. Specifically, the partial injunction enjoins the state from enforcing the provisions of the bill that would require more frequent and costly inspections that could result in penalties. The court found that those provisions likely are preempted because the state is trying to regulate the federal government and those it deals with.
An Update on Temporary Protected Status
In our July 10 newsletter we provided a full breakdown of the Mullin v. Doe case and the general impact of the loss of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians and Syrians living and working in the United States. As mentioned in the previous newsletter, estimates are that 21,000 Haitians in the U.S. work in difficult-to-fill roles such as nursing assistants and caregivers. In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling the impacts are already being felt as workers are laid off and patients lose caregivers they have grown to know and trust. In Massachusetts, Governor Maura Healey called for federal legislation to extend TPS for Haitians who play a critical role in the state’s healthcare system; a system that will face significant challenges if it loses the staffing provided by TPS recipients. Additionally, a coalition of New York nursing homes is raising the alarm over the threat posed by the potential loss of 7,000 employees arguing that a significant reduction in workforce would have ripple effects across the healthcare system. The problems for the healthcare industry will increase pressure on the already understaffed and expensive systems caring for America’s elderly and disabled populations and patients and the quality of their care could suffer the consequences of losing experienced workers with knowledge and relationships to the patients and the care.
The situation in Haiti remains unchanged and rampant violence from gangs continues to pose a threat to people across the country. Haiti remains broadly unsafe for travel, and remains the subject of a State Department travel advisory.
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