New York City Health Clinic Now Asking For Proof Of Citizenship, Citing Trump

NEW YORK — A prominent community health center with a long legacy of treating asylum-seekers is now requesting patients’ proof of citizenship, in an apparent response to the Trump administration’s broad threats to federal funding and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

The Floating Hospital in Queens is asking patients to show their Social Security cards or other proof of citizenship, citing an unspecified executive order by the Trump administration, according to an audio recording reviewed by POLITICO and two city lawmakers who were briefed on the matter and granted anonymity to speak candidly about a sensitive issue.

The policy, which was implemented earlier this month, appears to contradict federal requirements for community health centers under the Public Health Service Act, according to state and national trade associations. To be eligible for federal grant funding, organizations like the Floating Hospital are required to provide certain basic health services to all patients in their area, regardless of their ability to pay.

The Floating Hospital receives over $4 million annually in federal grants for primary health care, according to Health Resources & Services Administration data.

Spokespeople for the Floating Hospital did not respond to a list of questions about the matter. The organization’s president and general counsel, attorney Sean Granahan, did not return POLITICO’s requests for comment.

The health center’s actions show the wide-reaching ramifications of President Donald Trump’s efforts to force recipients of federal funding to adhere to his political agenda. Already in New York City — a progressive bastion within a majority Democratic state — a Bronx medical school erased references to diversity initiatives from its website and multiple Manhattan hospitals shifted their approaches to gender-affirming care for transgender adolescents.

Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, said universal access to medical services is a moral imperative and essential for public health.

“Excluding certain people from this care will hurt every New Yorker, and creates a chilling effect for providers and for recipients alike,” he said in a statement to POLITICO. “Let us be clear to all health care providers operating in New York State: you must treat every person who needs care. Any ‘health care’ institution that turns its backs on its mission to care for all has made the wrong choice, but it is not too late to correct this mistake and fulfill its mandate to serve the people of New York City.”

It is unclear whether other local community health centers are following in the Floating Hospital’s footsteps. A health center in New Mexico reportedly began turning away noncitizens after an executive order by Trump last week directed federal agencies to ensure federally funded programs do not provide taxpayer-funded benefits to “unqualified aliens,” according to local news reports. That organization reversed course after Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich publicly criticized the policy.

The National Association of Community Health Centers is advising members that federal law still requires them to provide care to all residents of their service area and to not discriminate against patients based on their identity, a spokesperson said in a statement to POLITICO.

Every New Yorker has a right to quality health care, regardless of immigration status, the city health department’s website states. That includes emergency medical care.

The Floating Hospital previously touted a 155-year legacy of providing “expert medical care to all who have needed it, regardless of insurance status, immigration status or ability to pay,” according to an archived version of its homepage accessed through the Wayback Machine.

The same message on its homepage now substitutes “identity status” for “immigration status.”