A major Catholic health system taught staff members how to be legally uncooperative with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in one of the hospital’s most prestigious lecture settings.
Providence Health hosted a virtual version of grand rounds — a weekly occurrence where leading doctors train other physicians and staff in crucial methodologies — aimed at providing better understanding of the “intense fear in which their immigrant patients are living” and taught staff how to be effective advocates during ICE encounters “within the boundaries of internal policy,” according to a document and recording reviewed by The Daily Wire.
Erin McKee, co-founder of the Oregon Justice Resource Center, presented during the one-hour webinar titled “Providence Women and Children’s Virtual Grand Rounds: Know Your Rights with ICE,” on January 29, 2026.
“When ICE is after you or your friends or family and you don’t want to help them, right? You’re not obligated to do that,” McKee said during the presentation. “If you think ICE is after you or your friends and family and you don’t want to help, your mindset should be don’t trust. They might not be telling you the truth. And ICE, ICE will often lie in order to get someone to move from maybe a private protected space to a public space where they can lawfully arrest them.”
Providence is a major health system with a Catholic heritage that spans six states and includes more than 125,000 employees, 51 hospitals, and 1,014 health clinics, according to its website. It is unclear how many employees tuned in to grand rounds, but the session was open to the entire staff nationwide.
Credit: Daily Wire
The Oregon Justice Resource Center suggests individuals follow a “Don’t Trust, Don’t Talk, Don’t Consent” model when approached by law enforcement, as stated on its website.
McKee mocked administrative warrants used by ICE agents when arresting illegal migrants, calling them, “A paper that says, ‘Dear me, you can do whatever you want. Signed me.’ And then they’re like, ‘See, this paper says I can do whatever I want.’”
McKee encouraged hospital staff to call the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition (PIRC) hotline, an activist group that tracks ICE activity and provides a rapid response, if they came across ICE agents.
“And what happens is if you witness or observe ICE enforcement activity or suspected ICE enforcement activity, you call the hotline. PIRC will send a volunteer to that location to verify whether it is, in fact, ICE activity,” said McKee.
Dr. Kurt Miceli, medical director at Do No Harm, disagrees with the insertion of political activism into grand rounds.
“Grand Rounds have long been dedicated to clinical, medical, and scientific topics that directly advance patient care and research, not to political activism. The profession’s core responsibility is to care for patients, and presenting politically oriented content as Grand Rounds risks weakening professional focus, compromising institutional neutrality, and diminishing trust in the educational mission,” Miceli told The Daily Wire.
At the start of the presentation, a Providence Health staff member noted federal immigration enforcement was causing the community “deep pain.”
“I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the deep pain, fear and grief being felt across our communities in light of the recent escalation and federal immigration enforcement activity and the tragic fatal shootings of Renee [Good] and Alex [Pretti] in Minnesota,” said Kara Johnson, Senior Director of Women and Children’s Services at Providence, at the beginning of the session.
Johnson’s remarks refer to Good and Pretti, two anti-ICE protesters killed by federal immigration officials in Minneapolis amid the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge. The deaths of Pretti and Good have led to massive protests in the Twin Cities and caused the Trump administration to rethink its approach to deportations.
“These events have sent shock waves through immigrant communities and all who care about justice and safety. Many of our patients, our colleagues, and our neighbors are carrying heavy trauma right now,” said Johnson.
“Obviously federal agents are violating rights. We are watching it on TV. We are seeing them completely disregard the Constitution, any type of norms that have applied in law enforcement situations,” McGee stated.
After publication of this article, Providence defended the training session in a lengthy statement provided to The Daily Wire.
“As a not-for-profit, Catholic health system, Providence sees health care as a fundamental human right, not a privilege. We serve members of our communities without regard to legal or socioeconomic status and believe that everyone deserves quality health care,” the organization said. “As a mission-driven organization, we have a special focus on those who are most vulnerable and know that immigrants, undocumented or not, face unique challenges. Our medical facilities are a place of healing where everyone can expect to be treated with compassion and respect.”
“Patients are never asked about their citizenship or legal status in order to receive medically necessary care, and we follow federal and state privacy laws, including HIPAA, that protect the confidentiality, dignity and safety of every patient we serve. While law enforcement officials are permitted in public spaces including entrances, lobbies and waiting areas, pursuant to our longstanding practice they are not allowed to access private areas of our facilities unless we have the patient’s explicit consent or the requesting party presents the appropriate legal authority — such as continuing legal custody, valid subpoena, court order or judicial warrant. Caregivers have clear procedures to follow if law enforcement agents request access to patients or their information, consistent with federal and state patient privacy requirements, which prohibit disclosure of protected health information without proper authorization.”
Update, 6:40 p.m. CT: This piece was updated with a statement from the Providence health system.
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