Thousands of immigrants seeking asylum are arriving at the border each month, fleeing war, poverty, violence, and discrimination. Our clinical network reports to us that many of these immigrants have urgent health needs that are going unmet.  Exacerbated by a dangerous and long migration, often precipitated by a lifetime of toxic stress and traumatic events, and sometimes the direct result of violence in their homelands, these illnesses and injuries can be debilitating and deadly -- and they are too often overlooked while in detention. A new Human Rights Watch report uncovered “subpar and dangerous practices” that constitute “systemic deficits in immigration detention facility health care.”

Medical Review for Immigrants (MRI) seeks to change that.  The new MCN initiative, launched in June 2018, links clinicians with pro-bono attorneys to get immigrants with urgent health needs out of detention and into care.

Through MRI, a physician is mobilized to quickly provide a Letter of Declaration for an attorney to request humanitarian parole for a seriously ill immigrant client, which enables the client to be released to receive essential care. Once released, MRI then assures that the client reaches the treatment she needs, with records transfer, follow-up services, and case management. MRI leans on MCN’s clinical network of over 10,000 constituents and over 30 years of experience working with health care providers coast to coast, and utilizes MCN’s Health Network, a proven cost-effective bridge case management system for patients who are moving while needing ongoing care.

But we need your help to launch this new initiative. Migrant Clinicians Network will build the basic infrastructure of MRI, beginning with outreach to physicians and pro-bono immigration agencies, law centers, and trusted private immigration attorneys across the country. Your donations will allow us to train physicians to properly write Letters of Declaration and to bring clinicians together virtually for a community of learning to help overcome potential hurdles. Finally, your donations will fund the case management needed to find and coordinate ongoing health care for patients after they are released -- an essential next-step after a patient receives humanitarian parole through MRI.

Please donate to MRI today.
If you are a physician who would like to participate in this initiative, please sign up HERE.