Tennessee parents, doctors warn of law aimed at excluding ill undocumented children from public medical program

ImmigrationTennessee parents, doctors warn of law aimed at excluding ill undocumented children from public medical programA Tennessee law requires the health department to share the immigration status of a child with state authorities if they’re enrolled in the Children’s Special Services program. Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00The Tennessee State Capitol Building in downtown Nashville.Getty Images / iStockphotoShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 24, 2026, 3:13 PM EDTBy Nicole AcevedoIn Tennessee, hundreds of parents of undocumented children who have critical illnesses or physical disabilities received a letter this month that threatens to upend their medical treatment. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Families were told that the Department of Health would share information on their child’s immigration status with the state’s immigration enforcement office if they continued receiving care through a specialized public health care program.“I read the letter. I read it many times to make sure I understood it properly,” said Brenda, a Honduran mother with a 12-year-old daughter living with cerebral palsy and epilepsy. She said she even asked her older daughter to take a look.The letter let Brenda know that if she keeps her daughter enrolled in the Children’s Special Services program from the Tennessee Department of Health after June 30, the agency will be required to turn over the girl’s information to the Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division, a state office created last year to oversee collaboration with federal immigration authorities.Considered “a payer of last resort,” Children’s Special Services is a publicly funded program that helps low-income families afford costly treatments such as surgeries, medications and rehabilitation services.Brenda’s daughter Sofia is among an estimated 400 immigrant children who are now at risk of losing access to those services at the end of th...