My story about A.V., the undocumented immigrant who was going to be "medically repatriated" to Guatemala without his consent by Philadelphia's Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, will be published later today.

Just a few things before it gets published: Medical repatriation is deportation. It is usually done without the consent of the undocumented patient & it is very much about a hospital deciding their bottom line is more important than a person's life, safety, and rights.

Before you read my reporting and yell Trump! Fascists! ICE! Know that this practice pre-dates Trump by many, many years. I can recall reading about medical deportations that happened in the 90s. That's my point of reference as a 35 year old.

I assume medical deportation has been a thing as long as undocumented people have had to go to hospitals for emergency care.

The other thing: This really has nothing to do with ICE. Hospitals are considered "sensitive locations," which means immigration enforcement should technically not be carried out there. I'm not saying it hasn't happened. I'm not saying that doesn't happen.

I'm saying that most of the time when a medical deportation happens from a hospital, it has nothing to do with ICE.

Based on my understanding covering medical deportation- including A.V.'s case in Philadelphia this week: The decision to deport is made by hospital administrators and it is based on two factors: 1. The patient's immigration status, and 2. The undocumented patient's ability to pay

Hospital administrators at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital did not obtain consent from A.V. (who couldn't have given it anyways because of the state he has been in), his family in Philadelphia, or his family in Guatemala before enlisting a medical transport company to deport A.V.

Again, this has nothing to do with Trump or ICE. This is a deeply inhumane practice that hospitals engage in- something that spans decades and various administrations. To consign everything to Trump, which I saw in my mentions last night, if horribly shortsighted.