NEW YORK — A prominent community health center with a long legacy of treating asylum-seekers is now requesting patients’ proof of citizenship, in an apparent response to the Trump administration’s broad threats to federal funding and anti-immigrant rhetoric.
The Floating Hospital in Queens is asking patients to show their Social Security cards or other proof of citizenship, citing an unspecified executive order by the Trump administration, according to an audio recording reviewed by POLITICO and two city lawmakers who were briefed on the matter and granted anonymity to speak candidly about a sensitive issue.
The policy, which was implemented earlier this month, appears to contradict federal requirements for community health centers under the Public Health Service Act, according to state and national trade associations.
To be eligible for federal grant funding, organizations like the Floating Hospital are required to provide certain basic health services to all patients in their area, regardless of their ability to pay.
Spokespeople for the Floating Hospital did not respond to a list of questions about the matter.
The organization’s president and general counsel, attorney Sean Granahan, did not return POLITICO’s requests for comment.
The health center’s actions show the wide-reaching ramifications of President Donald Trump’s efforts to force recipients of federal funding to adhere to his political agenda.
Already in New York City — a progressive bastion within a majority Democratic state — a Bronx medical school erased references to diversity initiatives from its website and multiple Manhattan hospitals shifted their approaches to gender-affirming care for transgender adolescents.
Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, said universal access to medical services is a moral imperative and essential for public health …
