Bay Area clinics race to keep immigrants enrolled in Medi-Cal as ICE fear keeps eligible patients away

As the immigration crackdown continues, La Clínica de la Raza launched a county-wide Medi-Cal enrollment campaign — reported by bilingual outlet El Tímpano — to keep currently-eligible immigrant patients covered before a missed 90-day paperwork window locks them out permanently. Community health workers describe a dual threat: the Jan-2026 enrollment freeze AND a chilling effect in which eligible patients avoid both enrolling and visiting clinics for fear coverage could be used against them in immigration proceedings (a misreading of public-charge rules, but a real deterrent).

For FQHCs with large Spanish-speaking panels — La Clínica, AltaMed, Asian Health Services, LifeLong — the result is lost visit volume and revenue on top of the mechanical coverage cuts.