* Sun-Times in April…

The [state] law, passed in 2023, created a limited license that allows doctors trained abroad to practice for two years under a supervising physician. They must either treat an underserved population or practice in an area of “unmet medical need.” After the two years, they’re given a provisional license for another two years, which allows them to mostly work independently, while still supervised. Then, they’re granted a full, unrestricted medical license. […]

The Migration Policy Institute predicts the state will be short 6,200 doctors by 2030. Meanwhile, over 12,000 Illinois residents have an international medical degree they can’t use, according to Upwardly Global, an organization that helps immigrant and refugee professionals find work in the U.S.

* Unfortunately, IDFPR is doing its usual (subpar) IDFPR job…

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which will be issuing the limited licenses for international doctors, has received about 200 inquiries since December from people asking about them, a spokesperson said.

The agency has not begun accepting applications or issuing licenses as lawmakers and department officials are still working out the administrative rules for the licensing process. The spokesperson didn’t know when they will start taking applications.

* Anyway, from the Cato Institute…

In recent years, several states have revised their medical licensing laws to let residents benefit from the skills and experience of immigrant physicians who trained and practiced abroad. These states grant provisional licenses that allow foreign physicians to work under the supervision of a licensed doctor for a set period, rather than repeating a residency program, as most states require. After passing the same standardized licensing exam that American physicians take, these doctors receive unrestricted licenses to practice.

Tennessee was the first state to enact this reform in 2023. Recently, Texas became the twelfth state to enact such a reform.

These reforms will not eliminate the shortage, but they will definitely help people, especially those in rural and underserved areas, get better access to care. That is, if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) doesn’t stand in the way.

A news report by Isabel Keane in The Independent contains a video that shows masked ICE agents stopping an immigrant doctor in his car on the way to drop off his child at a day care center in a Portland, OR, suburb. He provided identification to the ICE agents, who grew impatient when he asked them to “wait for three minutes” for his wife to arrive and take the baby from the car. With the baby out of the vehicle, the agents smashed the car’s windows, pulled the man out, and arrested him.

Witnesses described the ICE agents as “heartless” and “unnecessarily violent and inhumane.” […]

Incidents like this not only traumatize families but also send a chilling message to the very professionals our health system desperately needs. As states take overdue steps to reduce licensing barriers and address a looming physician shortage, harsh immigration enforcement risks undoing that progress. If we truly want to expand access to care—especially in the communities that need it most—we must stop treating immigrant health care providers as threats and start recognizing them as vital contributors.

The guy who was busted by ICE received his training in the United States, so this isn’t a great comparison. But it is illustrative of how the federal government’s strong emphasis on immigration enforcement can clash with states’ policy objectives…

The budget reconciliation bill dramatically boosts funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which currently has an annual budget of approximately $10 billion. It pumps more than $45 billion into expanding detention capacity nationwide, while funneling more than $29.9 billion toward the agencies’ enforcement operations through 2029.

In a statement, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that the funding would “further deliver on President Trump’s mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens and MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!” […]

The Trump administration has set a goal of 75 arrests per day in each field office — more than seven times the standard from the past four years at the agency’s Salt Lake City office, which oversees Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Montana. […]

The bill would also fund 10,000 new ICE agents, expanding an agency that has 20,000 total personnel. Even though there’s no publicly available data on the number of ICE agents stationed in Nevada, Michael Kagan, director of the UNLV Immigration Clinic, said that the nationwide increase in agents will likely still have an impact on the state.

* Back to the Sun-Times story…