955 - Mental Health Care in ICE Custody

Oct 1, 2025

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About this episode:

How well do ICE detention centers provide mental health care? In this episode: We first hear from Dr. Solomiya Tsymbalyuk from the University of Maryland about an emergency department interaction that presented legal and ethical questions around treating individuals in ICE custody. Then, Dr. Katherine Peeler of Physicians for Human Rights offers a look at how mental health care should be offered in immigration detention centers and why those protocols are becoming more difficult to follow.

Guest:

Dr. Katherine Peeler, MA, is a pediatric critical care physician and a medical adviser at Physicians for Human Rights. She leads the Peeler Immigration Lab where she researches the health and health rights of immigrants and, in particular, asylum seekers.

Dr. Solomiya Tsymbalyuk is a fourth-year psychiatric resident at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Host:

Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland’s Health Department.

Show links and related content:

Psychiatrists and Other Physicians Interfacing With ICE: Legal and Ethical Challenges—Psychiatric Services
‘People Are Losing Hope’ Inside ICE Detention Centers—New York Times
California sent investigators to ICE facilities. They found more detainees, and health care gaps—CalMatters

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