The Oregon Nurses Association and state Democratic lawmakers announced a bill Friday that would require hospitals and some federally funded primary care clinics to designate certain areas as off-limits to federal immigration enforcement agents, unless they have a valid judicial warrant. It’s modeled after a law passed in California last year.

The proposal is part of a package of bills that attempt to bolster the rights of immigrants targeted by the federal government’s deportation campaign, which Democrats have called a top priority for the current short session.

Health care providers in Oregon and across the country are reporting fewer immigrants showing up for medical appointments since the Trump administration undid a Biden-era ban on immigration arrests in hospitals, churches and schools.

The Department of Homeland Security previously said it was rescinding the policy to prevent criminals from hiding in churches and schools. “The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” an unnamed spokesperson wrote in an online statement posted by the agency.

Chief sponsor Sen. Wlnsvey Campos, D-Beaverton, worked with the union to craft the legislation, SB 1570.

The bill is at present a placeholder or “gut and stuff,” filled with generic text that will be replaced once the legislature’s attorneys have finished reviewing the proposed legislation. Campos said she hopes to have that text from legislative counsel Monday, when SB 1570 is scheduled for its first reading on the Senate floor.

Campos said the bill is intended to protect patient privacy and to ensure that health care workers aren’t forced to participate in immigration enforcement.

The bill’s proponents say the state doesn’t have the authority to regulate the actions of federal agents through Oregon law. But lawmakers can regulate hospital operations in the state, so that’s the approach they took.

It would require hospitals to establish procedures, like requiring a key code or badge, to restrict access to treatment areas by immigration authorities, unless they present a valid judicial warrant or court order.

Fewer immigrants are seeking Oregon health care benefits under Trump

According to Campos and others, private hospitals may already have the authority to take those steps if they choose.

“This bill would just make that abundantly clear, right? We would make sure that there would be consistency across hospitals in Oregon,” Campos said.

The lobbying group for Oregon’s hospitals said it was waiting to review the full text of the bill before taking a position on it. The bill is scheduled for a hearing Feb. 4.

“We look forward to working with lawmakers on this important issue,” Hospital Association of Oregon spokesperson Lisa Goodman said.

The bill’s provisions would also apply to Federally Qualified Health Centers, which are community and county health clinics that get special federal support to serve low-income and uninsured groups.

To date, there are no reports that federal immigration agents have entered hospitals or community clinics in Oregon attempting to arrest people. But their operations have occurred in hospital parking lots. Earlier this month, immigration officers arrested and detained a family on their way to Portland Adventist hospital to get care for a 7-year-old child.

Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have also been bringing patients in their custody to hospitals in the Portland area for treatment, most often Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

There, the union says, agents have refused to step away to allow their detainees to discuss private medical issues with doctors and nurses, undergo exams, or use the bathroom. Federal medical privacy law and DHS’ internal standards give immigration detainees the right to privacy in those situations.

Legacy has accused the union of sharing inaccurate information about the presence of federal agents in its hospitals, and has said it is providing the protection it can to impacted communities while complying with state and federal law.

Gresham family detained by immigration officers while seeking medical care for their 7-year-old

Paige Spence, ONA’s director of government relations, says she is not sure whether DHS has valid judicial warrants for the patients it has brought to Legacy and other hospitals in Oregon.

“Our clinicians don’t have the knowledge of whether there is a valid judicial warrant or court order. So this would require the hospital to collect that information,” she said.

The bill does not affect other types of law enforcement officers, Spence said. And if federal immigration enforcement agents do have a valid judicial warrant for a patient they are with, then a hospital would potentially need to allow them into a treatment area or patient room “if they have a valid reason for being there,” Spence said.

ONA’s proposal would also bar hospitals and community clinics from disciplining or retaliating against staff who hand out “know your rights” cards to patients, as long as the information they share is lawful and accurate.

“What I mean by lawful is, we’re not trying to encourage our members to hand a map of a hospital with all the secret exits and encourage someone to flee or break any other laws,” Spence said.

That provision appears to be aimed squarely at Legacy Health, which the union says put a nurse on leave for handing out cards from local immigration rights groups.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/30/oregon-nurses-uniond-immigration-enforcement-bill/