Los Angeles clinic sees surge in depression after ICE raids

Fear of immigration enforcement is showing up in Los Angeles exam rooms as depression, anxiety and suicidal thinking. At Zocalo Health, a primary care clinic that mainly serves Latino families on Medicaid, more than half of screened patients had anxiety severe enough to disrupt daily life, nearly three quarters were experiencing depression, and nearly 1 in 8 struggled with thoughts of suicide.

Zocalo screens every patient for depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, giving its clinicians a direct view into how raids and detention fears are affecting mental health. Sophia Pages, the clinic’s executive director of behavioral health and a licensed marriage and family therapist, said immigration enforcement is functioning as a real-time public health stressor. She said the loss of control many patients feel can deepen depression, trauma-related distress and suicidal thinking.

The clinic’s data tracked a clear rise in distress as immigration agents intensified raids in farms and neighborhoods across the Los Angeles area in 2025. That escalation came after the Trump administration rescinded a Biden-era policy in January 2025 that had protected sensitive locations, including churches, schools and hospitals, from immigration enforcement actions. Clinicians in Los Angeles have said the change pushed some patients to cancel appointments or avoid clinics altogether.

Zocalo has tried to keep people connected to care by pairing bilingual promotoras de salud and community health workers with therapists and physicians. It also reaches patients through WhatsApp, text messaging, in-person visits and virtual care, then follows up when people miss appointments because of fear. That outreach matters because the fallout from enforcement reaches beyond mood symptoms: skipped visits can mean missed medication pick-ups, delayed preventive care and interrupted treatment for chronic conditions.

Nationally, the numbers are significant. The American Psychological Association says the United States has about 46 million immigrants, roughly 14 percent of the population, and warns that the psychological toll of detention, deportation and even the fear of those actions compounds existing stress. In a June 2025 Los Angeles interview, psychologist Lisette Sanchez described communities as on edge amid raids, rumors of enforcement at schools and stores, and reports of federal agents at church grounds and Home Depot sites.

The pattern at Zocalo points to a larger public-health warning: immigration crackdowns do not stop at the border or the courthouse. They can reshape whether families seek care at all, and they can turn clinics into the first place the damage appears.