The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association (EMRA) are aware of and deeply concerned by the detention of Dr. Rubeliz Bolivar, an ACEP member and emergency medicine resident at the South Texas Health System in McAllen, Texas. Dr. Bolivar, who holds a valid work permit and has lived in the United States for a decade, was detained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security while traveling with her five-year-old U.S. citizen daughter to a previously scheduled asylum interview. This is the second physician detained in the Rio Grande Valley in less than a week.
ACEP is actively engaged in seeking a resolution. ACEP President Dr. L. Anthony Cirillo was in Texas for the Texas College of Emergency Physicians (TCEP) Chapter meeting when this news broke Saturday morning and spoke directly with TCEP leaders and Dr. Bolivar’s residency colleagues to mobilize support. We are also working with the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association (EMRA) in support of Dr. Bolivar. National ACEP, EMRA and TCEP leaders will be reaching out to Members of Congress, including Representative Monica De La Cruz of Texas’ 15th Congressional District, where Dr. Bolivar practices, and will continue working with the Texas delegation and leaders in Washington to advocate for her release and the protection of all physicians lawfully following immigration requirements while serving in the United States.
“Dr. Bolivar followed our laws, obtained valid work authorization, and dedicated herself to caring for patients in one of the most underserved regions in the country,” said ACEP President L. Anthony Cirillo from the TCEP Meeting in Rockwall, Texas. “Detaining physicians who are here legally and serving communities in need of vital emergency care is not targeted enforcement. It is a threat to the health of the American people, and it must stop.”
“Dr. Bolivar is a frontline emergency medicine resident and a mother. Every shift she misses is care delayed for patients in crisis. Every moment in detention, her child is kept from the safety she deserves. This isn’t just policy, these are people. It’s a family. It’s a physician our communities need and depend on,” said EMRA President Dr. Pauline Wiltz, in letters addressed to Texas State Legislators.
Just two days ago on Friday, April 8th, ACEP joined more than 20 medical societies in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin calling for a formal medical national-interest exemption to exempt physicians from across-the-board adjudicative holds once security and background checks are completed; expedited processing of physician immigration cases aligned to academic calendars and patient care obligations; clear guidance to adjudicators and consular officers that physicians warrant heightened processing priority; and improved transparency so physicians and hospitals can obtain timely case status information.
ACEP urges Secretaries Rubio and Mullin to act on these requests and recognize that detaining physicians who are lawfully present and serving patients in critically underserved communities does not make America safer. We call for the immediate release of Dr. Bolivar. We also call for the approval of a national-interest exemption for medical students, residents and fellows, and physicians.
