HIPAA Rights of Unaccompanied Children are at the Heart of an Immigration Debate

摘要

FEDERAL IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN using mental health evaluations obtained from unaccompanied children (UACs) to support efforts to deport these minors and family members or sponsors living in the United States, which raises questions about HIPAA compliance and the providers involved in their care.In February, the Washington Post reported on the case of one UAC, a teenaged Honduran asylum-seeker named Kevin Euceda, who underwent the mandatory therapy sessions while detained by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). Euceda and his lawyers learned that those records-which included memories of traumas and coerced criminal activities-were shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without consent from him or his therapists. The Post reporting suggests this is common for UACs detained in the United States.Maya Uppaluru-a healthcare attorney at Crowell & Moring who has analyzed the issues with sharing of mental health records of UACs-told the Journal of AHIMA that this practice could be problematic under federal privacy regulations. In her analysis, it was not clear to what extent UAC facilities operated by ORR, and their mental health employees or subcontractors, would be Covered Entities under HIPAA.