Missed or canceled pediatric appointments rose 8.7 percentage points among Spanish-speaking patients at a large Chicago center after Operation Midway Blitz began, compared with 1.6 points among other patients. The figures come from research presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics’ 2026 national conference.
Researchers reviewed outpatient appointments from 2018 through 2025, including nearly 100,000 scheduled after the federal immigration enforcement operation began in September 2025. Among Latino patients, the share of missed or canceled visits rose 4.2 points, versus 1.5 points among non-Latino patients. In ZIP codes with high enforcement activity, the increase was 5.1 points, compared with 2.2 points elsewhere.
The findings come from a conference abstract that has not been peer-reviewed and cover a single, unnamed hospital system. Researchers did not record why individual families missed visits, so the timing alone cannot establish that enforcement fears caused the increase.
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