![\"FILE](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTIKOVRPKVEIDEF34HH27K7O2Q.jpg\")
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FILE – The badge of a Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent near an ICE facility in Broadview, Ill., Friday, Oct. 3, 2025.<\/p>\n
Erin Hooley \/ AP<\/p>\n
The overwhelming majority of testimony submitted about the bill to date has come from nurses and other health care workers who support it. Many said fear of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers is leading patients to miss appointments and skip care. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf healthcare settings can be spared from enforcement, there may still be a fear to leave the home, but at least our campuses can be safe spaces,\u201d wrote Amy Celichowski, a physician associate in Milwaukie who was among the more than 200 people who\u2019ve written in support. <\/p>\n
But a handful of employers that would be directly regulated by the bill are raising concerns about it, and attorneys at the capitol say it could be challenged as unconstitutional. <\/p>\n
The Hospital Association of Oregon, which lobbies on behalf of the state\u2019s 60 community hospitals, is opposing the bill. <\/p>\n
In a letter, the group\u2019s executive for external affairs, Sean Kolmer, said he shares Democratic lawmakers\u2019 concerns that the Trump administration has allowed immigration enforcement in sensitive areas like hospitals, which previous administrations directed agents to avoid. <\/p>\n
But he argues that the bill incorrectly shifts responsibility and liability for federal agents\u2019 decisions onto hospitals. A hospital that fails to make reasonable efforts to comply with the proposed law could have its license suspended or revoked. <\/p>\n
\u201cWords matter here, as a worker who does too little could trigger penalties under this bill, and a worker who does too much could face federal criminal charges or other serious consequences,\u201d Kolmer wrote. <\/p>\n
The chief executive of Salem Health, Cheryl Wolfe, said in submitted testimony that the bill creates new work for hospital staff, like validating judicial warrants and monitoring agents. That would potentially compete with patient needs at times when staffing is tight.<\/p>\n
\u201cTraining staff to navigate new high-risk workflows will require considerable financial and operational investment \u2014 yet the bill provides no resources and no implementation runway,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
In addition to hospitals, the bill would regulate federally qualified health centers. These primary care clinics are geared toward caring for underserved and uninsured groups, including many immigrant populations. <\/p>\n
Marty Carty, the government affairs director at the Oregon Primary Care Association \u2014 which represents FQHCs \u2014 said his group believes immigration enforcement should not be happening at their clinics. But the association asked, without success, for FQHCs to be left out of the bill. Now, they\u2019re negotiating over several pain points.<\/p>\n
Those include a problem with the way the bill would be enforced: The Oregon Health Authority is empowered to suspend or revoke the license of facilities that don\u2019t comply, but according to Carty and OHA, the agency doesn\u2019t have that type of oversight over the federal clinics. <\/p>\n
Carty said working through issues with the bill has been challenging because lawmakers have little time to work in the short session and didn\u2019t have the text for the bill when the session began. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t blame any one party. It\u2019s just the nature of what it is,\u201d Carty said. <\/p>\n
According to Carty, much of the bill\u2019s requirements are already part of how FQHCs operate. For example, he said, many provide legal services on site. But he is concerned the requirement to exclude federal agents from patient care areas could lead to dangerous confrontations. <\/p>\n
\u201cI worry that requiring a worker or administrator to not allow access puts them between a locked door and an aggressive federal agent,\u201d Carty said. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t feel like a safe place.\u201d <\/p>\n
That section of the bill also raised a flag with the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Counsel, the attorneys who draft and review bills for state lawmakers. <\/p>\n